Sugar Research Australia’s (SRA) biosecurity team works towards identifying and managing biosecurity threats to the Australian Sugar Industry. Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV) is of high biosecurity concern to Australia and has resulted in yield losses of up to 30% in Indonesia. SCSMV is spreading throughout South East Asia, so the ability to rapidly collect and identify diseased specimens is of major importance to sugarcane production in Australia.
With funding from the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR), SRA is collaborating with the Indonesian Sugar Research Institute (ISRI), Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesian Sweetener and Fibre Crop Research Institute (ISFRI) and Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) to research a number of aspects related to SCSMV. This includes various sample collection techniques, investigation of possible transmission vectors and development of a variety of diagnostic tests.
This poster will describe two new developments: a successful trial utilising RT-PCR diagnostic methods with Whatman FTATM Plantsaver cards for SCSMV infected sugarcane leaf samples which has given us a more rapid and less destructive method of importing samples to Australia; and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is being developed as a rapid diagnostic tool on a range of specimens. These tools will allow faster diagnosis and provide a better understanding of SCSMV.