In The News
Beyond the Microscope: Exploring the Power of Molecular Diagnostics and 24/7 Sampling
Using molecular diagnostics to identify fungal spores provides several benefits over traditional microscopic analysis. The main advantage is accuracy of identification and species differentiation.
Species level identification is not generally possible from a spore alone. Most spore analysts identify to the genus level only as this is all that is reliable. For example, the genus Fusarium, has 100’s of species that are very difficult to distinguish species by their spores alone. Some species cause diseases in many crops for example, Fusarium oxysporum causes Panama Disease in banana, and Fusarium Wilt in tomato, eggplants, pepper and canola. While other species are quite specific, Fusarium graminearum causes Fusarium Head Blight in cereals. These two spores are nearly impossible to distinguish from each other under a microscope and plant pathologists routinely apply other strategies to differentiate them, such as culturing (growing out the fungi on a media plate) and molecular techniques.
Depending on the crop, incorrect diagnostics can lead to both false positives and false negatives meaning spray decisions will not be based on accurate information. By analyzing the DNA of the spores, molecular techniques can provide more reliable and definitive results.
The molecular advantage doesn’t end there. Fungicide resistance diagnostics offers the ability to assess the presence of fungicide resistant genes within fungal spores. This exciting new development for Spornado that arms growers with the knowledge to spray precisely. By knowing what you are up against, you can choose the best fungicide for the task at hand, whether it be FRAC 11 resistant mildew or FRAC 7 resistant Botrytis.
Molecular diagnostic approaches can be performed very quickly. Samples can be turned around in 24 hours from when the lab receives it. This speed is particularly crucial in situations where prompt identification is necessary for effective disease management or treatment decisions.
24/7 Sampling
At Spornado we have always believed that the longer the sample the more information you get out of it. It is widely accepted that Long-term sampling times are preferable to short-term snapshot sampling for several reasons:
Environmental conditions and fungal communities can exhibit significant variability over time. By conducting long-term sampling, you can capture fluctuations in fungal spore abundance and diversity which are known to have daily cycles and respond to acute weather events like rain. Since Spornado is sampling 24hrs a day all the variation that occurs in a day is captured.
Some fungal species may have sporadic occurrences, making them difficult to capture during short-term sampling, such as late blight. Long-term sampling increases the chances of detecting such uncommon species by providing a broader sampling window. This is particularly important when trying to catch rarely occurring diseases or those being brought in by acute weather events.
Contact us now to get molecular diagnostics and 24/7 sampling in your field.