Specific Primers For Identification and Detection of Three Major Desert Truffle Species in Iran with Special Reference to Terfezia claveryi

Desert truffles are hypogeous ascomyceteous ectomycorrhizal fungi, occurring in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. A PCR-based method was developed for the identification of 3 major desert truffles of Iran: Terfezia claveryi, Tirmania pinoyi and Tirmania nivea based on internal transcribed spacers of rDNA. Two specific PCR primers were designed for T. claveryi, 4 for T. pinoyi, and 2 for T. nivea. All primers were specific to their homologous species and neither set amplified purified DNA from other truffle species or soil-borne micromycetes. In conventional PCR, the limits of detection were 10-500 pg DNA. ITS-Tfc1 primers detected the species in host tissues using a nested-PCR method by ITS1 and ITS4 universal primers as external set.