Plant virus detection and diagnosis: Progress and challenges

Abstract

The production of healthy planting material requires robust diagnostic procedures. The advancements of the molecular virology and biotechnology have witnessed major breakthroughs in the recent years resulting in sensitive and effective technologies/methods. PCR has been the major a breakthrough leading successful detection RNA/DNA viruses. The development of qPCR assays helped to avoid the risk of post-PCR contamination and has benefits of high reproducibility and accuracy. The nonthermal methods, like HDA, RPA, NASBA, etc., have proved suitable for poorly resourced laboratories and on-site testing. NGS technology involving massive parallel sequencing approach followed by bioinformatics analysis has revolutionized discovery of novel viruses. With the increasing competition for machinery and analytical reagents among companies, high-throughput multiplexing and virus detection techniques are becoming cheaper. However, the challenge remains in their use at the site ensuring to maintain highest crop health standards at affordable price.