Use of Polymerase Chain Reaction to DetectGaeumannomyces graminisDNA in Plants Grown in Artificially and Naturally Infested Soil

The polymerase chain reaction was used to specifically amplify DNA of Gaeumannomyces graminis, a filamentous soilborne fungus that causes root and crown disease of cereals and turfgrasses. Nested primers were used to amplify a 188-bp fragment of mitochondrial DNA from fungal and infected-plant samples, which were simply boiled to release target DNA. Fungal DNA was amplified from single boiled hyphal tips or ascospores. G. graminis DNA was also detected in boiled crowns and roots from experimentally and naturally infected wheat, rice, and St. Augustine-grass and experimentally infected bermudagrass []