Identification of the DNAs of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Tricholoma bakamatsutake using specific oligonucleotide probes and PCR primers

Partial nucleotides of the 18S rDNAs of Tricholoma bakamatsutake were sequenced and compared with those of six ectomycorrhizal fungi and a tree. Two probes, Probes 1 and 2, and a pair of primers were designed based on the variable positions in this region. The DNAs of T. bakamatsutake were isolated from the colonized mycelia in the soil, field-collected fruit-bodies and artificially cultured mycelia. Hybridization with Probe 1 and PCR-amplification with the primers differentiated these DNAs of this fungus from those of eight ectomycorrhizel fungi and two tree species.