Single ascospore detection for the forecasting of Sclerotinia stem rot of canola.

Smart-agriculture technologies comprise a set of management systems designed to sustainably increase the efficiency and productivity of farming. In this paper, we present a lab-on-a-chip device that can be employed as a plant disease forecasting tool for canola crop. Our device can be employed as a platform to forecast potential outbreaks of one of the most devastating diseases of canola and other crops, Sclerotinia stem rot. The system consists of a microfluidic chip capable of detecting single airborne Sclerotinia sclerotiorum ascospores. Target ascospores are injected into the chip and selectively captured by dielectrophoresis, while other spores in the sample are flushed away. Afterward, captured ascospores are released into the flow stream of the channel and are detected employing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and coplanar microelectrodes. Our device provides a design for a low-cost, miniaturized, and automated platform technology for airborne spore detection and disease prevention.

Immuno-impedimetric Biosensor for Onsite Monitoring of Ascospores and Forecasting of Sclerotinia Stem Rot of Canola.

Sclerotinia stem rot, caused by the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is a destructive disease of canola and many other broadleaf crops. The primary inoculum responsible for initiating Sclerotinia epidemics is airborne ascospores released from the apothecia of sclerotia. Timely detection of the presence of airborne ascospores can serve as an early-warning system for forecasting and management of the disease. A major challenge is to develop a portable and automated device which can be deployed onsite to detect and quantify the presence of minute quantities of ascospores in the air and serves as a unit in a network of systems for forecasting of the epidemic. In this communication, we present the development of an impedimetric non-Faradaic biosensor based on anti-S. sclerotiorum polyclonal antibodies as probes to selectively capture the ascospores and sense their binding by an impedance based interdigitated electrode which was found to directly and unambiguously correlate the number of ascospores on sensor surface with the impedance response.