Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1485275

Integrating Spore trapping technology with Loop mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) for surveillance and sustainable management of rice false smut disease

Provisionally accepted
Meena A G Meena A G 1,2Gopalakrishnan Chellappan Gopalakrishnan Chellappan 2*Kamalakannan Ayyanar Kamalakannan Ayyanar 2Patil Santosh Ganapati Patil Santosh Ganapati 3jagatheeshwaran Ramasamy jagatheeshwaran Ramasamy 3Sathyamoorthy N K Sathyamoorthy N K 3
  • 1 Meena A G, Salem, India
  • 2 Department of Plant Pathology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • 3 Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a vital crop feeding more than half of the world's population, with production occurring predominantly in Asian countries. However, rice cultivation faces challenges from various fronts, including biotic stresses intensified by climate change. False smut, caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, has emerged as a significant threat to rice production globally. Application of curative fungicides after symptom appearance has limited scope in managing this disease, since the infection process usually starts during early flowering stage of rice crop. This study investigates the utilization of spore trapping technology coupled with Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) for monitoring airborne U. virens inocula in rice fields. For early detection and quantification of U. virens sampling rods coated with silicone grease were deployed to collect airborne spores and DNA extraction was performed using a modified method. Both PCR and LAMP assays were employed for detection, with LAMP offering advantages of rapidity, sensitivity and simplicity. The study demonstrated the superior sensitivity of LAMP compared to PCR, detecting U. virens DNA at concentrations as low as 100 femtograms. Continuous monitoring of U. virens inoculum using spore trapping revealed the spatio-temporal dynamics of U. virens dispersal, providing valuable insights for disease management. Implementation of fungicidal application schedule based on airborne inoculum detection led to significant reductions in both false smut incidence and severity and also improved crop yield. The meteorological parameters minimum temperature, relative humidity morning and evening, sunshine, solar radiation were found to be correlated with disease incidence. Multi-operator validation confirmed the robustness and specificity of the LAMP assay. Overall, this integrated approach offers a proactive strategy for monitoring and managing false smut disease, enhancing sustainable rice production and food security.

    Keywords: Spore trap, False smut, LAMP, rice, PCR, Ustilaginoidea virens

    Received: 03 Sep 2024; Accepted: 30 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 A G, Chellappan, Ayyanar, Santosh Ganapati, Ramasamy and N K. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gopalakrishnan Chellappan, Department of Plant Pathology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641 003, Tamil Nadu, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.