Sensitive and robust detection of citrus greening (huanglongbing) bacterium “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus” by DNA amplification with new 16S rDNA-specific primers

Citrus greening disease is caused by “Candidatus Liberibacter spp.,” including “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Las).” For detecting this disease, we designed new primers from the Las 16S rDNA and used a very small DNA template for PCR. More Las-infected tissues were detected with our primers than with the common primers.