A PCR-Based Technique for Detection of Neotyphodium Endophytes in Diverse Accessions of Tall Fescue.

A previously described polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method used for detection of Neotyphodium coenophialum in tall fescue detected Neotyphodium endophytes in some, but not all, infected plants from a geographically diverse sample. In the study reported here, a different set of primers, based on intervening sequences of the tubulin 2 gene, were prepared and used for PCR. PCR with these primers yielded the expected 444 base pair amplification product with DNA from 104 of the 106 infected accessions tested.