Abstract Results and Discussion Introduction

Construction of Specic Primers for Rapid Detection of South African Exportable Vegetable Macergens Bukola Rhoda Aremu and Olubukola Oluranti Babalola* Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Science and Technology, North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa.

Results and Discussion

Abstract Macergens are bacteria causing great damages to the parenchymatous tissues of vegetable both on eld and in transit. To effectively investigate the diversity and distribution of these macergens, four specic primers for the pectolytic gene responsible for the maceration of tissues were designed by retrieving 16S rDNA sequences of pectolytic bacteria from GenBank through NCBI website (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/GenBank). These were aligned using ClusterW via Bioedit and primers were designed using Primer3Plus platform. The size and primer location for each species and PCR product size have also been dened. In order to evaluate their specicity, DNA template of known macergens (Pectobacterium chrysanthermi) and fresh healthy vegetable were used. These primers yielded expected size of approximately 1100bp product only when tested with known macergens and no amplicons with fresh healthy vegetable. However, rapid detection of macergens in the rotten vegetable samples was carried out using these primers. The sequences of macergens identied were deposited in the GeneBank. Hence, with these specic primers, macergens can be identied with minimal quantities of the vegetable tissues using DNA isolation, PCR and Electrophoresis, for future use at the quarantine section of the Agricultural Department of the country for quick and rapid detection of macergens before exportation.

Table 1. Primers Properties Primer

Primer Set

Oligonucleotide Sequence

GC %

Tm

Length

Location

Position

M101F

Set 1

CGGACGGGTGAGTAATGTCT

55

56.5

20

16S

101-121

M1208R

Set 1

AAGGGCCATGATGACTTGAC

50

55.1

20

16S

1208-1180

M182F

Set 2

CGATCCCTAGCTGGTCTGAG

60

60.0

20

16S

182-202

M1190R

Set 2

TTATGAGGTCCGCTTGCTCT

50

60.0

20

16S

1190-1170

M180F

Set 3

GACGATCCCTAGCTGGTCTG

60

56.9

20

16S

180-200

M1190R

Set 3

TTATGAGGTCCGCTTGCTCT

50

56.0

20

16S

1190-1170

M57F

Set 4

GAGGAAGAAACCGGCGATAG

55

55.3

20

16S

57-77

M296R

Set 4

GGCGTATCCACCGATGTAAT

50

54.6

20

16S

296-279

Figure 1: Agarose gel electrophoresis of PCR products of Pectobacterium chrysanthermi using the macergens specic primers (M101F+M1208R, M182F+M1190R, M180F+M1190R, M57F+ M296R) designed in this study which give the expected size of approximately 1100 base pairs; M: 1kb Molecular weight marker; Lane 1: Primer Set 1 (M101F+M1208R); Lane 2: No Template; Lane 3: Primer Set 2 (M182F+M1190R); Lane 4: Primer Set 3 (M180F+M1190R); Lane 5 : Primer Set 4 (M57F+ M296R).

Keywords: Primer, ClusterW, Macergens, Pectinolytic, Pectolytic Table 2: Macergens detected by Set 1and Set 4 Primers from the rotten vegetables

Introduction Macergen cause rapid degradation of parenchymatous tissues of a wide range of vegetables on eld and after harvesting through different tissues maceration enzymes they produced (Beattie, 2006). The activities of these macergens are tightly interwoven with agricultural efciency and plant production leading to great economic losses (Tarkowski and Vereecke, 2014). Vegetables are highly essential for a complete diet, but are being threatened by this macergens reducing their quality, yields, shelf-life and consumer satisfaction and if eating mistakenly can results in food poisoning and allergens (Howard, 2013). Hence, needs for rapid and accurate detection of these become imperative?

Lanes

Vegetable Source

Macergens

Accession Number

References

1

White Cabbage

Pectobacterium carotovorum

KM924134

This study

3

Straight Baby Marrow

Proteus mirabilis

KM924135

This study

5

White Button Mushroom

Pantoea vagans

KM924136

This study

9

Straight Small Marrow

Raoultella terrigena

KM924137

This study

10

Round Baby Marrow

Rahnella sp

KM924138

This study

11

Red Cabbage

Enterobacter amnigena

KM924139

This study

12

Iceberg Lettuce

Enterobacter asburiae

KM924140

This study

13

Cauliower

Leclercia sp

KM924141

This study

15

Parsley

Rahnella aquatilis

KM924142

This study

16

Potatoes

Enterobacter asburiae

KM924143

This study

18

Potatoes

Pectobacterium carotovorum

KM924144

This study

26

Bell Pepper

Lelliottia amnigena

KM924145

This study

Figure 2: Ethidium bromide-stained gels of PCR amplication products obtained from different rotten vegetable samples using set1 and set 4 (M101F+M1208R and M57F+ M296R). Lane 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23 and 24: No amplication; Lane 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 21, 22 and 26: Amplicon size ranges from 1000-1100bp. These macergens detected are represented in Table 2.

Table 3: Macergens detected by Set 2 Primers from the rotten vegetables

Materials and Methods

Lanes

Vegetable Source

Macergens

Accession Number

1

White Cabbage

Pectobacterium carotovorum

KM924134

3

Straight Baby Marrow

Proteus mirabilis

KM924135

5

White Button Mushroom

Pantoea vagans

KM924136

Primer Development

Detection of Macergens from

9

Straight Small Marrow

Raoultella terrigena

KM924137

Vegetable Samples

Extraction of Metagenomic DNA

10

Round Baby Marrow

Rahnella sp

KM924138

from Vegetables

PCR Amplication

11

Red Cabbage

Enterobacter amnigena

KM924139

12

Iceberg Lettuce

Enterobacter asburiae

KM924140

13

Cauliower

Leclercia sp

KM924141

15

Parsley

Rahnella aquatilis

KM924142

16

Potatoes

Enterobacter asburiae

KM924143

18

Potatoes

Pectobacterium carotovorum

KM924144

26

Bell Pepper

Lelliottia amnigena

KM924145

Sequencing

DNA

Sequence Analysis

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the National Research Foundation, South Africa for funds (Grant no. UID81192 OO Babalola) that have supported research in their laboratory.

References

Table 4: Macergens detected by Set 3 Primers from the rotten vegetables

Lanes

Vegetable Source

Macergens

Accession Number

References

1

White Cabbage

Pectobacterium carotovorum

KP792433

This study

3

Straight Baby Marrow

Proteus mirabilis

KP792434

This study

4

Beetroot

Pantoea vagans

KP792435

This study

11

Red Cabbage

Raoultella terrigena

KP792436

This study

Beattie, G., 2006. Plant-associated bacteria: survey, molecular phylogeny, genomics and recent advances, in: Gnanamanickam, S. (Ed.), Plant-Associated Bacteria. Springer Netherlands, pp. 1-56.

12

Iceberg Lettuce

Rahnella sp

KP792437

This study

17

Celery

Enterobacter amnigena

KP792438

This study

18

Potatoes

Enterobacter asburiae

KP792439

This study

Howard, D.G., 2013. Heirloom Flavor: Yesterday's Best-tasting Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs for Today's Cook. Cool Springs Press, USA.

20

Potatoes

Leclercia sp

KP792440

This study

21

Spinach

Leclercia sp

KP792441

This study

Tarkowski, P., Vereecke, D., 2014. Threats and opportunities of plant pathogenic bacteria. Biotechnol. Adv. 32, 215-229.

Figure 3: Ethidium bromide-stained gels of PCR amplication products obtained from different rotten vegetable samples using M182F+M1190R. Lane 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25: No amplication; Lane 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18 and 26 : Amplicon size of 1000bp. These macergens detected are represented in Table 3

Figure 4: Ethidium bromide-stained gels of PCR amplication products obtained from different rotten vegetable samples using M180F+M1190R. Lane 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26: No amplication; Lane 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 17, 18, 20 and 21: Amplicon size ranges from 1000-1100bp. These macergens detected are represented in Table 4.