Research progress on nucleic acid amplification-based detection technologies for phytopathogenic fungi.
Wang B, Liu M, Wang H, Wang C, Zhang W
Crop Improvement
Bread, fruit, and vegetables on your table are under constant threat from fungal diseases, and better early-detection tools mean farmers can respond faster — reducing crop losses, pesticide use, and the rising cost of food.
Fungi cause more than 80% of plant diseases worldwide, and catching them early is the key to stopping them from wiping out entire crops. Researchers have been developing a range of clever tests that read the DNA of these fungi — some require lab equipment, but newer versions are portable enough to use right in a field. This review takes stock of all these tools, comparing how fast, accurate, and practical each one is for real-world farming.
Key Findings
Fungal pathogens are responsible for over 80% of plant disease infections, contributing to annual crop losses of up to 30% of global yields.
Isothermal amplification methods (such as LAMP and RPA) can detect fungal pathogens without the thermal cycling equipment required by traditional PCR, enabling low-cost, field-deployable testing.
Combining CRISPR/Cas systems with isothermal amplification (e.g., RPA-CRISPR, LAMP-CRISPR) further improves detection sensitivity and specificity, supporting precision disease management.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists have reviewed cutting-edge DNA-based tools that can rapidly and accurately identify the fungal pathogens responsible for devastating crop diseases, which destroy up to 30% of global harvests each year. These technologies — from standard PCR to portable CRISPR-based tests — are making it faster and cheaper to catch infections before they spread.
Abstract Preview
Phytopathogenic fungi are highly diverse and globally distributed, posing a major threat to agricultural production worldwide. The annual losses caused by plant diseases can reach up to 30% of glob...
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