Recent advances in molecular techniques for the identification of phytopathogenic fungi – a mini review

Abstract

At present, 1.5 million species of fungi are estimated. Among these less than 5% have been described. Many fungal species cause disease in plants. These diseases cause major economic and production losses in the agricultural industry worldwide. Monitoring plant health and detecting the pathogen early are essential to reduce the disease spread, and facilitate effective management practices. DNA-based methods now provide essential tools for accurate plant disease diagnosis. Recently, effective amplification platforms, probe development, various quantitative PCR, DNA barcoding and RNA-Seq-based next-generation sequencing have revolutionized the research in fungal detection field, and differentiation area. Although the molecular diagnostics techniques have grown extensively over the last couple of decades but still there is a long way to go in the development and application of molecular diagnostics to assist the plant disease diagnosticians. Finally, molecular diagnostic techniques used in plant disease diagnostic clinics need to be robust, reliable, inexpensive and easy to be used that they can compete with, and complement traditional techniques. Challenge now remains residue with the researchers to develop the practical techniques used for diagnostic setting. Examples of the recent advancement in the molecular techniques for diagnosing the fungi causing plant disease are discussed in the review.

Biotechnological tools for detection, identification and management of plant diseases

“…Plant pathogenic fungi are the causal agents of the most detrimental diseases in plants, provoking considerable yield losses worldwide (Aslam et al, 2017). Some of the basic methods used to detect fungal pathogens mostly rely on microscopic, morphological and cultural approaches that require extensive time, labor and classical taxonomy knowledge (Nilsson et al, 2011).…”

“…Even though, these approaches are the cornerstone of fungal diagnostics, they can lead to the unreliable results due to the problems in weak identification. Therefore, advances in the development of molecular methods, like immunological methods, nucleic acid-based probe technology and PCR technology have provided diagnostic laboratories with powerful tools for detection and identification of phytopathogenic fungi (Aslam et al, 2017). These methods are much faster, more specific, sensitive, and accurate, and can be performed and interpreted by personnel with no specialized taxonomical expertise (Badali and Nabili, 2012).…”

Mycobiome analysis in fungal Infected formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues for identification of pathogenic fungi: A pilot study

“…1 These novel methods are based on analyzing fungal genomes or proteomes using fresh tissues. 2,3 However, these methods are difficult to apply in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues used in surgical pathology. Sanger sequencing and IHC staining have been used in FFPE tissue, but most medical institutions only identify fungi based on morphological findings.…”

Evaluación de tres protocolos para la extracción rápida de ARN total de tejidos de Prosopis juliflora (SW)

“…La utilización de técnicas moleculares para estudios relacionados con la expresión de genes diferenciales requiere la síntesis de ADN complementario de buena calidad (Aslam et al, 2017). De esta manera, la disponibilidad de un ARN de buena calidad es el primer requerimiento para el entendimiento de las investigaciones en plantas.…”