A portable, nanopore-based genotyping platform for near real-time detection of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici lineages and fungicide sensitivity.
Fungal plant disease outbreaks are increasing in both scale and frequency, posing severe threats to agroecosystem stability, native biodiversity and food security. Among these, the notorious wheat stem rust fungus, Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici (Pgt), has threatened wheat production since the earliest days of agriculture. New Pgt strains continue to emerge and quickly spread over vast distances through the airborne dispersal of asexual urediniospores, triggering extensive disease outbreaks as these exotic Pgt strains often overcome resistance in dominant crop varieties of newly affected regions. This highlights the urgent need for a point-of-care, real-time Pgt genotyping platform to facilitate early detection of emerging Pgt strains.