The Queensland Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries, Henry Palaszczuk, along with C-Qentec Diagnostics’s Managing Director, Mr Bruce Howie, today unveiled a test from the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Plant Protection that uses DNA technology to dramatically cut the time it takes to detect the devastating plant pathogen Phytophthora.  

Phytophthora is a common fungal disease of plants and soil that, while little known to most home gardeners, was recently ranked as the most important threat to Australia’s ornamental nursery industry.  

Phytophthora is thought to cost about 10% in losses for the nursery industry each year and over $200 million in losses across all of Australia’s agricultural industries (nursery, horticulture, broadacre cropping and forestry) annually.  

“Phytophthora is, without a doubt, the most serious problem facing the nursery industry today,” Bruce Howie, Managing Director of C-Qentec Diagnostics Pty Limited, said today.  

One recent study by NSW Agriculture revealed that 38% of nurseries are infected with Phytophthora, although the disease may go undetected for some time, with some plant species showing resistance to the disease.   

The new test, called the Phytophthora – IDENTIKIT™, uses DNA technology to detect Phytophthora in soil, plant and water samples – in some cases, in a matter of hours compared to a week using traditional laboratory methods.  

The efficiency afforded by direct testing using the Phytophthora – IDENTIKIT™ gives growers a head-start on managing the disease and preventing its further spread.  

“Phytophthora is soil and water borne, so it is easily spread by movements of humans, animals and water and, of course, the plants themselves,” Dr André Drenth from the CRC for Tropical Plant Protection said today.

  “This is why it’s so important for the disease to be identified right through the nursery industry supply chain, because an infected plant from a wholesaler is going to be an infected plant for a retailer and, eventually, a dead plant for a fruit farmer or backyard gardener.”  

Rapid and accurate diagnosis of Phytophthora is important to allow growers to implement the right strategies to manage the disease.  

As infection can spread rapidly, high levels of hygiene and regular testing for the absence of the pathogen is needed in an effort to keep the Phytophthora diseases under control.

  “Once an area of land is infected with Phytophthora, generally speaking, it will always be infected with it, and the best you can do is to try to manage the disease and stop it from spreading further,” Dr Drenth said.

  Strategies to manage the disease include modifying the use of the infected areas, controlling access to them, and adopting good hygiene practices.  

The Phytophthora – IDENTIKIT™ technology has been licensed to C-Qentec Diagnostics Pty Ltd for commercialisation through laboratories around the world.

For more information on the Phytophthora – IDENTIKIT™, please visit http://www.tpp.uq.edu.au/identikit