Primers and Probes Development for Specific PCR Detection of Genetically Modified Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) Embrapa 5.1

The genetically modified common bean Embrapa 5.1, developed by Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), is the first commercial GM plant produced in Latin America. It presents high resistance to the Bean golden mosaic virus. In this work, primers and probes targeting a taxon-specific reference DNA sequence for the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and a construct-specific DNA sequence of Embrapa 5.1 GM common bean were successfully developed. The primers and probes showed high specificity for the target detection. Both methods showed suitable efficiency and performance to be used as an endogenous target for detection of common bean DNA and for construct-specific detection of GM common bean Embrapa 5.1, respectively. Both real-time PCR assays proved to be valuable for future assessment of interlaboratory studies.