BotVidSENSOR

The objective of the project BotVidSENSOR, is the development of a tool for the diagnosis of the «grey rot» disease, caused by B. cinerea, which will allow the EARLY monitoring at the POINT OF NEED of the infections caused by this pathogen in grapevine.

Acronym

BotVidSENSOR

Description

Research Group: Non-Coding RNA-Mediated Regulatory Networks

The objective of the project BotVidSENSOR, is the development of a tool for the diagnosis of the «grey rot» disease, caused by B. cinerea, which will allow the EARLY monitoring at the POINT OF NEED of the infections caused by this pathogen in grapevine.

Specific Objectives:

1. To obtain grapevine plants infected with Botrytis cinerea under controlled conditions.
2. Optimization of fluidic technology for the detection of sRNAs (endogenous and/or pathogen-derived) suitable to be used as biomarkers of infection.
3. Optimization of the detection device under controlled conditions and in the field.
4. Adaptation of the sensor to the real needs of the biotechnological and productive system.
5. Development of an integral scalability and transferability strategy.

BotVid-SENSOR website

Results

During this project, a protocol for the maintenance (under controlled conditions) of B. cinerea inocula in grapevine plants was optimized. Characterization of the sRNA population in infected plants allowed the identification of sRNAs that act as early markers of infection. These markers were used to develop a system for the detection of infection-associated sRNAs using paper-based fluidics. Based on this technology, we have designed and developed a prototype of a portable sensor for early and point-of-need (field) diagnosis of B. cinerea in grapevine, which has been tested and validated by the agricultural community. Based on this design, production costs have been evaluated against different scenarios, production scalability, and according to the market study, the profitability that would be obtained has been evaluated, being foreseeably of great interest for a biotechnological start-up. This technological development was completed with the realization of an epidemiological map detailing the distribution and incidence of this disease in the production system of the Valencian Community.