Chip-Based On-Site Diagnosis of Phytophthora ramorum

The pathogen Phytophthora ramorum Werres, De Cock, & Man in't Veld which attacks a wide range of host plants and is a worldwide threat to natural ecosystems and the nursery industry. To prevent the spread of this pathogen with latently infected plants, easy to handle diagnostic systems with high sensitivity and high throughput are demanded. Furthermore, such methods should give results within a short time on site of inspection. A 3-year project is underway to create a chip-formatted PCR system combined with a chip-based electrical microarray that will be adapted for the detection of P. ramorum in plant tissue. A stationary PCR chip with integrated microstructured heaters and temperature sensors has been developed for the amplification of specific Phytophthora DNA fragments. A microfluidic system connects the PCR chip with a microarray where the labelled DNA fragments are detected. The miniaturization of the chip formatted PCR and array system enables high portability, low input of energy, smaller amounts of expensive analytic chemicals and due to low reaction volumes very fast reaction times.