Sequencing the air to identify plant pathogens before they decimate crops

空气传播的作物病原体对粮食安全构成严重威胁，并造成毁灭性的产量损失。早期发现可以使农民采取有针对性的行动来减少损失。在小麦方面，仅真菌病就造成的损失估计平均为21%（1.6亿吨），其中三种谷物锈病是最具破坏性的。黄锈病是由纹状假单抗引起的，一直威胁着英国的小麦生产。目前所有的黄锈病病原检测机制都依赖于植物危害后的分析。然而，在这个项目中，我们将部署最先进的基于测序的诊断来检测和监测捕获的空气样本中存在的黄锈病病原体。至关重要的是，我们希望能够证明区分不同基因型/病理型的能力。这种方法将允许更早、更有针对性的治疗方案。

Airborne crop pathogens pose a serious threat to food security and are responsible for devastating loss of yield. Early detection can enable farmers to take targeted action to reduce losses. In wheat, fungaldiseases alone are estimated to cause losses averaging 21% (>160 million tonnes), with three cereal rusts amongst the most damaging. Yellow rust, caused by P. striiformis, is a constant threat to UK wheat production. All current pathogen detection regimes for yellow rust rely on analysis post plant damage. However, in this project, we will deploy a state-of-the-art sequencing based diagnostic to detect and monitor yellow rust pathogens present within captured air samples. Crucially, we hope to be able to demonstrate the ability to distinguish different genotypes/pathotypes. Such an approach would allow much earlier, more targeted treatment regimes.