Quantitative real-time PCR and high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis for strain-specific monitoring of fluorescent pseudomonads used as biocontrol agents against soil-borne pathogens of food crops

摘要

Fluorescent pseudomonads colonizing roots of crop plants and producing antifungal metabolites areudregarded as a reliable alternative to chemical fungicides against soil-borne phytopathogens. Key factorsudin successful pathogen control are presence and activity at the appropriate concentration, time, and placeudof biocontrol agents. Thus, quantification methods to monitor population dynamics are pivotal to theuddevelopment of reliable application protocols. Real-time PCR is nowadays the most widespread cultureindependentudtechnique for the detection and enumeration of different target sequences. Here, itsudimplementation with high resolution melting analysis as a powerful tool to accurately discriminateudmicrobial inoculants is discussed.