Differentiation of Two Closely Related Furoviruses Using the Polymerase Chain Reaction

Oligonucleotide primers based on published sequence data for beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) were synthesized for use in the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to differentiate beet soilborne mosaic virus (BSBMV) from BNYVV. Primers designed for the 3' end of BNYVV RNA 1 were effective in PCR amplification of a product of the predicted size, approximately 1,056 bp, from extracts of plants infected by BNYVV. The same primer pair also directed the amplification of a PCR product of approximately 1,000 bp from extracts of plants infected by BSBMV. If extracts from plants infected with BNYVV were mixed with those from plants infected with BSBMV, the primer pair allowed the amplification of only BNYVV