Tomato Pathogen Detection Device Using Selective Culture Medium
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for detecting tomato pathogenic fungi often result in false positives due to the detection of non-tomato pathogenic fungi, leading to unnecessary chemical use and seedling replacement in cultivation, as they fail to selectively identify tomato-specific pathogens at the pre-onset stage.
Innovation Solution
A detection device featuring an artificial cell wall with specific through-hole diameters and cellulose membrane thickness, combined with a culture solution containing fludioxonil within a certain concentration range, allows for selective detection of tomato pathogenic fungi by excluding non-tomato pathogenic fungi.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If an artificial cell wall detection method is used to detect plant pathogenic fungi, then detection capability is improved, but false positives occur due to detection of non-tomato pathogenic fungi
Solution Approach 1:
The culture solution is modified by adding fludioxonil to create a selective environment that differentiates between tomato-specific pathogenic fungi and other plant pathogenic fungi. This local modification of the culture medium enables tomato pathogenic fungi to grow while inhibiting non-tomato pathogens, thereby resolving the false positive issue while maintaining detection capability
Solution Approach 2:
The concentration of fludioxonil in the culture solution is optimized to achieve selective inhibition. By adjusting this chemical parameter, the system distinguishes between target and non-target fungi, improving reliability without sacrificing detection sensitivity
2Productivity
If detection is performed without selective differentiation, then detection speed is improved, but unnecessary chemical use and seedling replacement occur
Solution Approach 1:
The detection method performs preliminary differentiation of fungus types during the culture phase by adding fludioxonil to the culture solution. This preliminary selective action occurs before any chemical treatment or seedling replacement decisions are made, enabling fast detection while preventing unnecessary resource loss through accurate early identification
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively prevents false positives by selectively detecting tomato pathogenic fungi at the pre-onset stage, reducing unnecessary chemical use and seedling replacement, thereby improving cultivation practices.
Implementation Method 1
Paul F. Morris. et. al. 'Chemotropic and Contact Responses of Phytophthora sojae Hyphae to Soybean Isoflavonoids and Artificial Substrates', Plant Physiol. (1998) 117: 1171-1178 discloses that one species of plant pathogenic Oomycota, Phytophthora sojae, spreads pseudohyphae to grow not horizontally but downwardly as if sinking, and to penetrate a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) membrane having 3 μm pores.
Implementation Method 2
The plant pathogenic fungi have a characteristic feature of invading plants by, for example, forming appressoria to adhere to the surfaces of plants, and subsequently looking for pores such as stoma tissues and spreading hyphae through the pores into the plant bodies, or releasing plant-cell-wall degrading enzymes (cellulase and pectinase) from hyphae.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a device for detecting a tomato pathogenic fungus, the device including an artificial cell wall, a test-sample-solution receptacle disposed over the artificial cell wall, and a culture-solution storage disposed under the artificial cell wall, wherein, in the culture-solution storage, a culture solution contains greater than or equal to 0.5 mg/L and less than or equal to 1.3 mg/L of fludioxonil.