In-field molecular diagnosis of plant pathogens: recent trends and future perspectives

Accurate management practices in crop health and food safety are critical, especially regarding the detection of plant pathogens in the early stages of a disease. To date, specific, fast and sensitive technologies for point-of-care diagnosis and simple or grower-friendly devices are very valuable, as no specialized staff are required for diagnosing a disease in the field. This is especially the case today, when factors such as climate change may cause the appearance of pathogens in areas where years ago they were unexpected. The aim of this research is to review some of the promising techniques that can be applied to in-field molecular detection of plant pathogens and how these techniques can change the way farmers and pathologists are diagnosing plant diseases. Some of them, like loop-mediated isothermal amplification and recombinase polymerase amplification, are already being successfully used for routine diagnosis. However, most technologies still need validation in the plant pathology field, where they have a promising future for in-field diagnosis when combined with simple DNA extraction methods, reagent stabilization techniques and their integration into portable devices.