Development of species-specific PCR primers on rDNA for the identification of European Armillaria species

Attempts to design species-specific PCR primers from six European Armillaria species in the ribosomal RNA genes are reported. Primers were developed on the basis of the nucleotide sequence variability of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and the intergenic spacer (IGS1) of the ribosomal DNA. Four sets of primers gave specific PCR products for Armillaria tabescens, Armillaria mellea and Armillaria ostoyae. However, due to the high sequence similarities between Armillaria borealis and Armillaria ostoyae and between Armillaria cepistipes and Armillaria gallica no species specific amplification was obtained for these taxa.