Tree Lab: Portable genomics for Early Detection of Plant Viruses and Pests in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In this case study we successfully teamed the PDQeX DNA purification technology developed by MicroGEM, New Zealand, with the MinION and MinIT mobile sequencing devices developed by Oxford Nanopore Technologies to produce an effective point-of-need field diagnostic system. The PDQeX extracts DNA using a cocktail of thermophilic proteinases and cell wall-degrading enzymes, thermo-responsive extractor cartridges and a temperature control unit. This closed system delivers purified DNA with no cross-contamination.

Updated mtCOI reference dataset for the species complex.

Members of the whitefly species complex cause millions of dollars of damage globally and are considered one of the world's most invasive species. They are capable of causing extensive damage to major vegetable, grain legume and fiber crops. All member of the species complex are morphologically identical therefore, data from the partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) gene sequence has been used to identify the various species.