Roquetas de Mar, Spain
April 4, 2012

Since the appearance of Molecular Hybridization probes for Potato spindle tuber viroid detection in the early 1980s, their use has increased and expanded to cover a wide variety of economically important vegetable and fruit crops, including Solanaceae and Cucurbits. Their specificity to concrete viruses strains (ie. TYCLV-IL, TYLCSV, PepMV-EU, PepMV-CH2), coupled with the robustness of semiquantitative results and in addition to their suitability for large scales assays has made them a preferred tool in plant breeding programs.

Hybridization Process
Unlike probes of the past, today's probes are non-radioactive and contain labelled digoxigenin which attaches to viral RNA or DNA strands from hybridized samples. The preparation of samples can be in form of RNA and DNA extraction dot blots, Crude leaf extract dot blots or tissue prints applied to a nylon membrane. The absence or presence of a virus, as well as the intensity of a samples' viral load can be observed through chemiluminescence shown from an autoradiography films taken of the hybridized nylon membrane.

Advantages Over Other Methods
In addition to high specificity and robust results, Molecular Hybridization is perfectly suited for diagnosing high numbers of samples (hundreds) at one time. This large scale capacity makes it a preferred alternative to other methods in terms of labor as in the case of ELISA, and costs with regards to PCR / RT-PCR. Aside from being a research tool, this method is ideal for early diagnosis in the field to detect viral infections when plants are still asymptomatic.

Pathogens of Economic Interest
The experts at Savia Biotech along with researchers from public laboratories in Spain have developed a list of over twenty Molecular Hybridization probes to detect the most common viruses that affect Solanaceae and Cucurbits. Savia Biotech offers Molecular Hybridization to the public in form of Probe kits for in-house diagnosis, Membrane kits that include processing services, and training seminars on how to use probes.

For more information on Molecular Hybridization please visit www.saviabiotech.es or contact info@saviabiotech.es

Published: April 4, 2012