A Review on Recent Advances in Plant Pathogen Detection Systems

Worldwide, a substantial economic loss in agricultural products is caused by plant pathogens. The increased losses in agriculture has drawn attention towards development of miniaturized pathogen detection systems for phytopathology. The major highlight of this review paper substantiates recent work (2015-2020) and advances in the development of portable devices and technologies for plant pathogen detection. In detail, the paper reports important advancements in loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, digital droplet PCR, microfluidics, Molecular Imprinted Polymer (MIP) based biosensors, disposable all-printed electronics and nanoparticle-based sensors for instantaneous detection in agricultural applications. Another important aspect covered is the use of nanoparticles in detection of agricultural pathogens. A brief on various commercially available detection systems worldwide has been listed. Finally, we discuss the perspective in the development of portable miniaturized systems and novel assay technologies based on advanced nanomaterials. Gold standard techniques: Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and culture counting have been used extensively for plant pathogen detection, however, they are expensive, require well-equipped laboratories, not user friendly, and are not suited for on-field measurements. These recent trends are overtaking the traditional methods in Agri-diagnostics because of their superior performances and suitability for the task.