Design and development of a DNA microarray for rapid identification of multiple European quarantine phytopathogenic bacteria

The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) lists for quarantine status 26 phytopathogenic bacteria which pose serious economic threats to agricultural and natural ecosystems. A prototype diagnostic DNA microarray was developed for the rapid and simple identification of 22 of these quarantine bacteria. The microarray has 38 probes targeted to the 16S rDNA and the house-keeping genes rpoB, groEL and ftsZ. The 16S rDNA probes were selected according to a multiple-probe concept taking into account the hierarchical structure of phytobacterial systematics. Hybridisation with Cy3-labelled PCR products of corresponding genes enabled differentiation of the quarantine bacteria down to the species and subspecies level.