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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2000, p. 2996-3003, Vol. 66, No. 7
Department of Plant Pathology, Horticulture
Research International, Wellesbourne, Warwick, Warwickshire CV35
9EF, United Kingdom
Received 21 December 1999/Accepted 21 March 2000
We describe a new microtiter immunospore trapping device (MTIST
device) that uses a suction system to directly trap air particulates by
impaction in microtiter wells. This device can be used for rapid
detection and immunoquantification of ascospores of
Mycosphaerella brassicicola and conidia of Botrytis
cinerea by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) under
controlled environmental conditions. For ascospores of
M. brassicicola correlation coefficients
(r2) of 0.943 and 0.9514 were observed
for the number of MTIST device-impacted ascospores per microtiter
well and the absorbance values determined by ELISA, respectively. These
values were not affected when a mixed fungal spore population was used.
There was a relationship between the number of MTIST device-trapped
ascospores of M. brassicicola per liter of air sampled
and the amount of disease expressed on exposed plants of
Brassica oleracea (Brussels sprouts). Similarly, when the
MTIST device was used to trap conidia of B. cinerea, a
correlation coefficient of 0.8797 was obtained for the absorbance values generated by the ELISA and the observed number of conidia per microtiter well. The relative collection efficiency of the MTIST
device in controlled plant growth chambers with limited airflow was 1.7 times greater than the relative collection efficiency of a Burkard
7-day volumetric spore trap for collection of M. brassicicola ascospores. The MTIST device can be used to
rapidly differentiate, determine, and accurately quantify target
organisms in a microflora. The MTIST device is a portable, robust,
inexpensive system that can be used to perform multiple tests in a
single sampling period, and it should be useful for monitoring airborne particulates and microorganisms in a range of environments.
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
A New Method To Monitor Airborne Inoculum of the Fungal Plant
Pathogens Mycosphaerella brassicicola and
Botrytis cinerea
and
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Horticulture
Research International, Wellesbourne, Warwick, Warwickshire
CV35 9EF, United Kingdom. Phone: 44(0)1789 470382. Fax: 44(0)1789
470552. E-mail: roy.kennedy{at}hri.ac.uk.
Present address: Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension
Center, Oregon State University, Hood River, OR 97031.
Present address: Department of Plant Sciences, University of
Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3RB, United Kingdom.
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