Review: The future of plant pathogen diagnostics in a nursery production system

Plant diseases have a global economic impact through the loss of productivity and trade restrictions. Production of disease free plants in nurseries is crucial for plant survival and productivity in the field environment. Accurate diagnosis of plant pathogens helps to identify appropriate management practices to reduce production losses. Current diagnostic methods for plant pathogens include evaluation of disease symptoms, identification of culturable organisms or direct analysis of infected tissue by serological and molecular methods. Laboratory methods can be laborious, expensive and require specific technical expertise. There is a strong demand for the development of rapid, specific, sensitive and cost-effective tests that can be used at the point-of-care in nurseries. This review summarises disease diagnostic methods that have been successfully applied in other fields, and have the potential to transform production in the nursery industry. Emerging technologies include isothermal amplification, nanomaterial-based detection, biosensors, robotics, lab-on-chip, and paper-based analytical devices.