Abstract
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.
Highlights
Sclerotinia stem rot is one of the most destructive diseases for canola[1,2]
We report on the design and development of a biosensor based on anti-S. sclerotiorum antibodies as probes immobilized on interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) and sense the binding of the ascospores by label-free non-Faradaic impedimetric detection for sensitive and selective detection and quantification of ascospores
One of the most important factors contributing to the development of a sensitive antibody-based biosensor is the ability to immobilize a high density of oriented antibodies covalently on the surface of the interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) so that the paratopes are free in the solution and available for efficient binding with the target antigens[18,19,20]
Summary
Sclerotinia stem rot is one of the most destructive diseases for canola[1,2]. Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is one of the most non-specific, omnivorous, and successful plant pathogens. Infection of plants by the pathogen occurs mainly due to airborne ascospores. In canola, these airborne ascospores come into contact and adhere to the petals. The ascospore germinates when the infected petal falls into the crop canopy and lands on the leaves, stems, and branches[5]. The presence of apothecia in the canopy and airborne ascospores can serve as an early-warning system for the stem rot infection of canola. The primary tool used to control Sclerotinia stem rot of canola is the application of fungicides[7]. Systematic application of fungicides is unprofitable because the outbreak of sclerotinia incidence can vary greatly among fields and years
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