Horticentre - Horticultural Supplies Specialists New Zealand  - For Growers, By Growers Horticentre TasmanCrop

Tests Kits for on-site disease diagnosis

Pocket DiagnosticTM test kits are lateral flow devices for rapid, on-site and field diagnosis of viral, bacterial and fungal diseases in Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers, Ornamentals, Fruit and other vegetable crops.

Pocket DiagnosticTM adopts similar technology to the highly successful home pregnancy test kits. The tests are specific for individual pathogens and rely on antibodies that have been used in reliable routine laboratory testing for over 20 years. Coupling antibodies to blue latex beads and packaging then in a sophisticated "lateral flow" device has allowed the development of a test that gives a visual result usually in less than 2 minutes. The test device is packaged together with a unique system for extracting sap from the plant material, which is also used to add a few drops of the sample onto the device. Pocket Diagnostic kits are rigorously tested for use in the field, by comparison and standard laboratory tests, and results for individual tests are given in the pathogen key cards.

By means of a user-friendly test; growers, inspectors and consultants are able to make instant, reliable decisions in minutes, helping to maintain healthy crops, plants and stocks.

Key Features:

  • Unique one-step field diagnosis
  • Rapid and cost effective solution
  • Instant, reliable decision making
  • Early indication of potential problems
  • Long Shelf life

Pocket DiagnosticTM tests are designed to detect pathogens in symptomatic plant material only.  When using leaf material, always use young expanded leaves, not old senescent material.  When sampling from large plants, it is recommended that leaf samples from various locations on the plant be used, to overcome the problems of uneven distribution.  If the test is performed and a negative result is obtained, the same extracted plant material can be used in additional Pocket DiagnosticTM devices, to test for other target pathogens. 

All Pocket DiagnosticTM lateral flow test kits should be stored at ambient conditions and not refrigerated or frozen. Cold lateral flow devices and extraction buffers will considerably slow down the running of the tests and may cause an inaccurate diagnosis to be made.

Validation

In validation studies, correlations of greater than 96% have been achieved when comparisons of Pocket DiagnosticTM kits to standard laboratory tests. The kit also offers the additional advantages of speed, ease of use and the convenience of individual sample testing.

Test Kit Product Range

There are now Pocket DiagnosticTM tests available for 17 different plant pathogens. All are robust and easy to use, providing test results in less than 2 minutes.

Potato

  • PVY Potato Virus Y
  • PVX Potato Virus X
  • PVA Potato Virus A
  • PVS Potato Virus S
  • PVV Potato Virus V
  • PVYN Potato Virus YN
  • Brown Rot Ralstonia Solanacearum
  • Potato Multi Virus 3
  • Potato Multi Virus 5
  • Phytophthora

Ornamental

  • Bacterial Wilt Ralstonia Solanacearum
  • Bacterial Blight Xanthamonas hortorum pv pelargonii
  • INSV Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus
  • CMV Cucumber Mosaic Virus
  • Orchid Virus Screen
  • Botrytis
  • Phythium
  • Phytophthora
  • Rhizoctonia

Tomato & Pepper

  • PepMV Pepino Mosaic Virus
  • ToMV Tomato Mosaic Virus
  • TYLCV Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus
  • TSWV Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus

Fruit

  • Botrytis
  • Phytophthora 
  • PPV Plum Pox Virus

Arable Crops

  • BNYVV Beet Necrotic Yellow Vein Virus
  • BYV Beet Yellows Virus

Packaging:

Each standard test kit contains:

  • 4 test devices (2 / pack) in 2 foil packs.
  • 4 plant tissue extraction bottles
  • 4 pipettes
  • A pathogen key card
  • A detailed instructions sheet