Blurred lines: integrating emerging technologies to advance plant biosecurity

Yiheng Hu; Salome Wilson; Benjamin Schwessinger; John P Rathjen

doi:10.1016/j.pbi.2020.04.011

Blurred lines: integrating emerging technologies to advance plant biosecurity

Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2020 Aug:56:127-134. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2020.04.011. Epub 2020 Jun 28.

Authors

Yiheng Hu¹, Salome Wilson¹, Benjamin Schwessinger¹, John P Rathjen²

Affiliations

¹ Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
² Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Electronic address: john.rathjen@anu.edu.au.

PMID: 32610220
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2020.04.011

Abstract

Plant diseases threaten global food security and biodiversity. Rapid dispersal of pathogens particularly via human means has accelerated in recent years. Timely detection of plant pathogens is essential to limit their spread. At the same time, international regulations must keep abreast of advances in plant disease diagnostics. In this review we describe recent progress in developing modern plant disease diagnostics based on detection of pathogen components, high-throughput image analysis, remote sensing, and machine learning. We discuss how different diagnostic approaches can be integrated in detection frameworks that can work at different scales and account for sampling biases. Lastly, we briefly discuss the requirements to apply these advances under regulatory settings to improve biosecurity measures globally.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Plant Diseases*
Plants*