On 11 March, VIRTIGATION partner Wageningen University and Research organised the project’s second lunchtime webinar on the topic of virus detection.
Virus detection: distinguishing between infectious and non-infectious virus
The second VIRTIGATION lunchtime webinar brought together more than 60 stakeholders, doubling the attendance from the first lunchtime webinar of the project. The audience included plant scientists, agro-industry actors, agricultural extension services and growers as key actors of the VIRTIGATION network. As various plant viruses like ToMV, CGMMV and PepMV continue to wreak havoc on tomato crops worldwide, this online event came at a crucial time to inform plant health stakeholders about new promising detection tools for these viruses.
Novel quick laboratory test to improve virus detection
In this webinar, René van der Vlugt, one of the lead scientists from VIRTIGATION partner WUR, firstly provided an comprehensive overview on the current state of art in virus detection. Vlugt then highlighted the importance of using virus detection as a key tool to understand if disinfection efforts were successful. He also detailed different alternatives to expensive and time-consuming bioassays in this regard.
The Dutch scientist then concluded his presentation by providing an outline of a novel quick laboratory test developed by WUR in VIRTIGATION, which can help determine if a virus is either ‘dead’ or ‘alive’ in an efficient and effective manner. The WUR method can thereby make the expensive and time-consuming bioassays obsolete. In a lively Q&A session, the webinar participants then asked a lot of questions about the specifics of the WUR virus detection innovation coming out of the VIRTIGATION project.
Curious to know how to best distinguish between infectious and non-infectious virus? Then join the VIRTIGATION network as a stakeholder to gain exclusive access to the webinar recording and presentation! Take also the opportunity to discuss with René van der Vlugt from WUR on the specifics of their novel quick laboratory test to determine if a virus is either ‘dead’ or ‘alive’.
