Phosphate permease gene as a marker for the species-specific identification of the toxigenic fungus Fusarium cerealis

A PCR-based system has been developed for highly specific identification of the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium cerealis on the basis of the nucleotide sequence of the phosphate permease gene. Sequencing and the following analysis showed that this gene demonstrated a high degree of polymorphism and can be used for both phylogenetic studies and as a marker for specific primer design. Investigation of the specificity of the designed primers confirmed the lack of cross-reactivity with DNA of closely related fungi species of the Fusarium genus. The qPCR assay demonstrated high sensitivity of the test system, which was 10 pg of the specific DNA per reaction.