BLIGHTSENSE - DEVELOPMENT OF A RAPID BIOSENSOR SYSTEM FOR IN-FIELD DETECTION OF POTATO BLIGHT

马铃薯晚疫病是世界上最具破坏性的作物病害之一，每年造成35亿英镑的全球经济损失（AHDB, 2011）。这是对粮食安全的重大威胁，加剧了过去十年马铃薯产量停滞不前的情况。在英国，控制成本为每公顷350英镑，相当于高压枯萎季节每年7200万英镑，损失43万吨（TSL, 2014）。该项目将与Soil Essentials（苏格兰领先的精准农业中小企业）、James Hutton研究所（世界领先的晚疫病专家）、Mylnefield研究服务公司（JHI商业部门）和先正达公司（全球农业企业领导者）合作，开发并演示一种低成本、快速、从样品到结果的生物传感器设备（BlightSense），用于早期检测空气传播的孢子菌病原体（P.infestans），这是马铃薯晚疫病的原因。这将显著改善田间病害风险评估和控制，从而提高作物的适销产量和品质。BlightSense将把低成本、抗体涂层的传感耗材与经过验证的（Rotarod）空气采样孢子陷阱结合起来，以期生产一种完全集成的无线产品，放置在现场的各个位置，以帮助绘制枯萎病风险。专有的传感元件激发小“桶”内的声波，这些“桶”具有捕获孢子和使它们接触到可以解码孢子颗粒存在的微观振动的双重作用。设想在整个生长季节采取连续的作业模式，每周补充消耗品。根据农民需要的检测性能，传感装置将带来3个级别的特异性：1级（基于尺寸分离）；2级（基于形状识别）和3级（高度特异性抗体捕获）。该系统将产生一个无线信号，其中包含振动的大小和频率的信息，当它们附着在传感器表面时，这些信息反过来标志着孢子虫的存在。与现场的其他传感器相结合，该数据（通过GSM传播）可以以非常高的概率指示病原体来源和方向。由于孢子和传感器设备之间的有效接触，该系统将提供接近实时的反馈，比目前可用的系统精度更高。为了支持可持续性，作为平台技术，基础声学传感设备可以通过改变声学元件的大小和相邻材料的特定类型来适应，这些材料经过精心优化，可用于监测其他空气和水传播的环境污染物，不仅在农业中具有广泛的适用性，而且在医疗保健和生物防御等其他诊断行业也具有广泛的适用性。

Potato late blight is one of the world's most devastating crop diseases, responsible for £3.5Bn pa global economic losses (AHDB, 2011). It is a major threat to food security, compounding the stagnating potato yields witnessed over the last decade. In the UK it costs £350/ha to control, equating to £72M pa in high-pressure blight seasons, with 430K tonne losses (TSL, 2014). In collaboration with Soil Essentials (a leading Scottish precision-farming SME), the James Hutton Institute (world-leading late blight experts), Mylnefield Research Services (JHI commercial arm) and Syngenta (Global agri-business leader), this project will develop & demonstrate a low-cost, rapid, sample-to-result biosensor device (BlightSense) for early detection of air-borne sporangia of the oomycete pathogen (P.infestans), the cause of potato late blight. This will significantly improve in-field disease risk assessment & control, in order to increase crop marketable yield & quality. BlightSense will incorporate low-cost, antibody-coated sensing consumables with a proven (Rotarod) air-sampling spore trap, with a view to producing a fully integrated wireless product to be placed at various locations in the field to help map the blight risk. The proprietary sensing element excites acoustic waves inside small 'buckets', which have the dual role of capturing the spores and bringing them into contact with microscopic vibrations that can decode the presence of spore particles. A continuous mode of operation is envisaged throughout the growing season with weekly consumable replenishment. Depending on the detection performance required by the farmer, the sensing device will bring 3 levels of specificity: Level 1 (based on size separation); Level 2 (based on shape recognition) and Level 3 (highly specific antibody-capture). The system will generate a wireless signal with information about the size and frequency of the vibrations, which in turn flag the presence of P. infestans sporangia when they bind to the sensor surface. Combined with other sensors in the field, this data (disseminated via GSM) can indicate pathogen sources and direction to a very high probability. Due to the efficient contact between the spore and the sensor devices the system will provide near real-time feedback to a superior level of accuracy than currently available systems.To support sustainability, as a platform technology, the underpinning acoustic sensing device can be adapted by changing the size of the acoustic elements and the specific type of adjoining materials, which are carefully optimised for monitoring other air-borne and water-borne environmental pollutants, with wide applicability not only within agriculture, but other diagnostic industries such as healthcare and biodefence.