Commercial producers of nursery crops, plant seed, and food crops all require assurance of healthy planting stock. To address this need, laboratories, institutions and agencies, worldwide, use a variety of methods to examine plant materials and demonstrate that seeds, cuttings, and plants test free of pathogens. Such tests provide crops a passport to travel and give the grower confidence that a healthy crop is planted. This project initiates research to develop a plant pathogen diagnostic strategy that complements and enhances existing technologies. The overall objective is to develop a plant diagnostic platform with improved sensitivity, ease of execution, reduced cost, and greater user friendliness. A first and limiting step in plant diagnostic testing is the time, cost and effectiveness of sample preparation, in this case the purification of nucleic acids from infected plants. The project addresses an improvement in sample processing by developing a sequence specific nucleic acid separation media for plant viral RNA pathogens. If this project succeeds, it will be possible to produce specific nucleic acid separation products for individual tests and macroarrays. If the overall program succeeds, kits, separation media and testing services supporting an improved macroarray platform are expected.
