Bringing the lab to the forest: rapid and portable tools for disease diagnostics and resistance screening in Scots pine

Scots pine in Swedish forests is increasingly threatened by the accidental introductions of non-native diseases. Foresters and governmental agencies are urgently seeking knowledge on how to guard against these threats.

Two major challenges they face are the lack of rapid diagnostics tools for early detection and monitoring, and the slow, expensive process of selecting disease resistant (tolerant) genotypes.

The objectives of this proposal are (i) to implement the latest advancements in nanopore sequencing to develop a diagnostic device that can identify new and emerging threats; and (ii) use high-throughput chemo-phenotyping technologies to develop a rapid phenotyping tool to massively accelerate the selection process of resistant genotypes for forest trees.

To achieve the first goal, we will test the efficacy of the MinION nanopore sequencer to detect invasive pine pathogens and develop protocols for practical portable diagnostics.

For the second objective, we trial a handheld infrared spectroscope to identify Scots pine trees exhibiting high resistance to several important pathogens.

Together these devices will provide new options to help foresters, nurseries, scientists and governmental agencies handle the threats imposed by invasive tree pathogens.