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Category: Communication

Description: Plant pathogens cause enormous economic loss and potential unintended environmental impacts through excessive or off-target chemical management practices. Thus, early diagnosis and quantitation of the causal pathogen species for accurate and timely disease control is crucial. Botrytis Grey Mould (BGM), caused by Botrytis cinerea and B. fabae, can seriously impact production of temperate grain legumes separately or within a complex. Accordingly, several immunogenic and molecular probe-type protocols have been developed for their diagnosis, but these have varying levels of species-specificity, sensitivity, and consequent usefulness within the paddock. To substantially improve speed, accuracy and sensitivity, advanced nanoparticle-based biosensor approaches have been employed and through translation of human biomedical diagnostics tools. These new tools provide accurate and quantitative diagnosis in the field and long before visual symptoms appear. This presentation will outline progress towards the development and validation of BGM species-specific molecular-electrochemical coupled diagnostics, and next steps towards their incorporation in IDM strategy.