Rapid, in vivo detection and identification of pathogens in soybean plants using portable surface-enhanced Raman...

Pathogen-induced soybean diseases represent a significant threat to global agricultural productivity, causing substantial annual yield losses worldwide. Early pathogen detection enables timely disease management interventions, yet current in situ detection methods suffer from critical limitations: destructive sampling requirements, extended processing times, and insufficient pathogen specificity. Here, we report a non-destructive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based silver nanoprobe capable of real-time pathogen detection in living soybean plants. We demonstrate successful detection of Phytophthora sojae (P. sojae) and Colletotrichum truncatum (C. truncatum) infections in soybean leaves through SERS spectral analysis. Critically, our approach achieves pathogen detection three days prior to visible symptom emergence for both species. The unique spectral fingerprints generated by each pathogen enable reliable species-level identification and differentiation. These results demonstrate the potential of SERS-based nanosensors for early-stage plant disease monitoring and pathogen identification in agricultural systems. The three-day detection window provides sufficient time for targeted fungicide applications before irreversible tissue damage occurs, offering a practical solution for reducing crop losses in commercial soybean production.