This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: John Innes Centre researchers have trained scientists from across Tanzania to use new loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays to rapidly detect wheat blast, a looming fungal threat to wheat harvests. Hosted at the Tanzanian Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), the training covered how to use LAMP assays as low-cost, rapid tests to detect the presence of a fungal disease known as wheat blast (caused by Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum).
The disease has not been found in Tanzania yet, but has been confirmed in neighboring Zambia. Providing rapid detection tools such as LAMP helps to improve Tanzania's ability to identify and respond to the threat of wheat blast, should the disease reach the country. "Wheat blast is a looming threat that could enter Tanzanian fields and damage harvests.
How quickly we can respond depends on how quickly we can also identify the fungus in the field. This training provided us with a new tool to improve detection," said Dr. Caresma Chuwa, TARI-Selian director.
Twenty-one representatives from five institutions across Tanzania took part in the training, which also provided enough resources for the Tanzanian team to test any samples they believe could be wheat blast in the coming season. Findings from this work are already connected to the DEWAS network, a global surveillance network tracking wheat diseases and informing control measures to protect farmers. The next step for the technology is to develop tests that do not require a heating step and can run without the need for refrigerated reagents.
Doing so will make wheat blast diagnostic tests more accessible across rural areas. "It's great to see this new technology now being trained and taken up by wheat disease pathologists across Tanzania. Working together with these communities strengthens our capacity to detect the spread of wheat blast and quickly respond, ultimately protecting farmers' harvests and the communities they support," said Salome Munissi, a research scientist at TARI-Selian.
The Saunders Lab at the John Innes Centre developed a low-cost, accessible test to rapidly confirm if a sample contains wheat blast as part of the Global Surveillance Advisory System (GSAS) project. Tanzanian researchers learned to use this new test at the workshop hosted at TARI-Selian. The new test is a type of LAMP assay, which has been used elsewhere to track diseases, such as citrus greening.
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