Partial sequence identification of grapevine-leafroll-associated virus-1 and development of a highly sensitive IC-RT-PCR detection method.

Using immunocapture reverse transcription PCR (IC-RT-PCR) a specific PCR product from GLRaV-1 infected vine samples was amplified with the help of degenerate primers deduced from the conserved HSP70 region of closteroviruses. 511 basepairs of the 5'end of GLRaV-1 HSP70 gene were identified. Within this region, putative GLRaV-1 specific primers were designed and an IC-RT-PCR detection procedure was developed which is about 125 times more sensitive than the established ELISA method. No PCR product was amplified in GLRaV-2,-3 and -4 infected plants which indicates the specificity of the primers. This procedure may serve as an alternative method for GLRaV-1 detection where the sensitivity of ELISA is insufficient.