Smart Materials for Equipment-Free Molecular Identification of Insect Pests and Viral Vectors

烟粉虱物种复合体代表了全球一些最重要的农业和园艺害虫。其成员通过取食直接造成严重的生理损害，并通过在叶片上产生大量促进煤烟霉菌生长的蜜露间接对植物的光合作用能力造成损害。然而，最大的经济影响是由其成员集体传播300种不同的植物病毒造成的。这些病毒包括番茄黄化卷叶病毒、葫芦黄化矮化病、黄瓜叶脉黄化病毒、木薯褐条病毒和非洲木薯花叶病毒。这些病毒对地中海地区(西红柿、黄瓜)、美国南部(西红柿、黄瓜、红薯)和非洲(木薯、红薯)的高价值作物造成重大经济损失。虽然B.Tabaci还没有在英国站稳脚跟，但它被认为是对园艺业的一个严重且日益严重的威胁。英国目前是受管制的烟粉虱无虫区，维持这一状态的核心工具是快速准确地识别烟粉虱。黄色粘性诱捕器是Defra建议的监测英国烟粉虱入侵和暴发的措施的关键组成部分。被困在诱捕器上的昆虫很难被非昆虫学家识别，因为它与非检疫物种有相似之处，如粉虱和常见的温室白粉虱，特别是如果在诱捕过程中遭到破坏。结果，捕捉器被送到实验室，由专业昆虫学家使用低倍显微镜、分子诊断工具或两者的组合进行鉴定。收集陷阱的后勤负担和与实验室分析相关的成本减少了常规监测行动中使用的粘性陷阱的数量，降低了其作为一种监测方法的价值。因此，当疫情变得严重时，检查人员通常会观察到烟粉虱的入侵。这使得遏制和根除变得更加困难和昂贵，并有可能使害虫扩散到难以或不可能控制的地步。在这里，我们提出了一种新颖的智能材料--灵感来自黄色粘性陷阱--它包括一种粘性生物功能聚合物，用于捕捉粉虱并被动释放DNA，该聚合物反过来又覆盖在能够将烟粉虱与其他粉虱物种区分开来并产生视觉信号的生物传感器核心上。这些材料可以打印在一次性纸条上，用于不同的环境，如运输集装箱或所含的生长设施。

The whitefly species complex Bemisia tabaci represents some of the most economically important agricultural and horticultural insect pests globally. Its members cause significant physiological damage directly through feeding, and indirectly on the photosynthetic capacity of plants through the large quantities of honeydew produced encouraging sooty mould growth on leaves. The greatest economic impact is, however, caused by its members collectively vectoring > 300 different species of plant virus. These include Tomato yellow leaf curl viruses, Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder, Cucumber vein yellowing virus, Cassava brown streak viruses and Africa Cassava mosaic viruses. These viruses result in significant economic losses through damage to high value crops across the Mediterranean (tomatoes, cucumbers), southern USA (tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet potato) and Africa (cassava, sweet potato). While B. tabaci is not yet established within the UK it is recognised as a serious and growing threat to the horticultural industry. The UK is currently a regulated B. tabaci pest-free area and a central tool to maintaining this status is rapid and accurate identification of B. tabaci.Yellow sticky traps are a key component of the Defra recommended measures for monitoring for incursions and outbreaks of B. tabaci in the UK. Insects stuck on traps are difficult for non-entomologists to identify due to similarities with non-quarantine species such as Bemisia afer and the common glasshouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum, especially if damaged during trapping. As a result, traps are sent to laboratories for identification by specialist entomologists using either low magnification microscopy, molecular diagnostic tools or a combination of both. The logistical burden of collecting traps and the costs associated with the laboratory analysis, reduces the number of sticky traps used in routine surveillance operations, diminishing its value as a surveillance method. As a result, incursions of B. tabaci are usually observed by inspectors when outbreaks become severe. This makes containment and eradication more difficult and costly and runs the risk that the pest spreads to the point of being difficult or impossible to contain. Here we propose a novel, smart material - inspired by yellow sticky traps - that comprise an adhesive, biofunctional polymer to trap whiteflies and release DNA passively, that is in turn layered on top of a biosensor core capable of discriminating B. tabaci from other whitefly species and producing a visual signal. These materials can be printed on to disposable paper strips for use in different settings such as shipping containers or contained growth facilities.