A simple real-time RT-PCR based assay was developed to investigate virus infection rates in large-scale soybean seed lots. Conventional qualitative RT-PCR requires numerous assays of individual samples within a population, whereas the method developed...
A simple real-time RT-PCR based assay was developed to investigate virus infection rates in large-scale soybean seed lots. Conventional qualitative RT-PCR requires numerous assays of individual samples within a population, whereas the method developed in this study enabled estimation of infection rates at the population level with a single real-time RT-PCR analysis. To validate the method, seeds of three government-released soybean cultivars (‘Seonpung’, ‘Daechan’, and ‘Daewonkong’) were tested for soybean yellow mottle mosaic virus (SYMMV) infection using RT-PCR, RT-PCR followed by nested PCR, and real-time RT-PCR. Detection of low-level SYMMV infections was difficult using RT-PCR alone; however, both RT-PCR followed by nested PCR and real-time RT-PCR successfully identified low-level infected seeds, and their results were consistent. In particular, real-time RT-PCR enabled quantification of target gene copy numbers in individual infected seeds, and cultivar-specific mean copy numbers were established. Using these values, population-level infection rates could be estimated through a single assay, which closely matched the results of qualitative testing of individual seeds. The large-scale quantitative virus assay developed in this study is expected to be highly useful not only for quality control in soybean seed production but also for the diagnosis of regulated non-quarantine pests with defined tolerance thresholds.