"Dot-air: Optimization of molecular reactions (e.g. LAMP) aiming at the detection, quantification, monitoring, and automatic prevention, and in real time, of pathogenic microorganisms of area dispersion in crops shipped in a micro-fluidic platform"

• Grant number: 23/10286-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Support Program for Fixating Young Doctors
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Agreement: CNPq
• Principal Investigator: Samuel Matos da Costa
• Grantee: Luana Parras Meleiro Garcia
• Associated research grant: 23/01608-4 - Dot-air: optimization of molecular reactions (e.g. LAMP) aiming at the detection, quantification, monitoring, and automatic prevention, and in real time, of pathogenic microorganisms of area dispersion in crops shipped in a micro-fluidic platform, AP.R

Abstract

Soy is currently the main crop in the national market, occupying around 35 million hectares planted (1.4 times the size of the state of São Paulo) and generating annual revenue of approximately R$ 110 billion. The disease that most plagues this crop is Asian rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi), a biotrophic fungus that spreads through spores in the air and that, without correct defensive management, is capable of reducing crop productivity by up to 85%. To avoid the incidence of this disease in soybean crops, farmers spend approximately R$ 380.00 per hectare per harvest on fungicide applications. Currently, there are 2 classes of pesticides used to combat Asian rust, protective and curative. The so-called protective defensive class has the function of preventing the spore from adhering to the surface of the leaf. Since the life cycle lasts about 120 days and the validity of the defensive molecule is only 15 days, an average of 4 to 5 applications of agricultural defensive occur during a season. This type of management, where the pesticide is applied without proper proof of the presence of the disease in the plantation, is considered "blind" management. This problem could be avoided if there was early identification and confirmation of the presence-absence of the fungus during planting. Our platform (lab on a chip) is universal for the recognition of biological data, that is, it can detect any microorganism, as well as its variants, that has already been sequenced. Initially, we chose to develop the DotAir device to recognize and establish the population frequency, in real time, of the F129L and I86F variants of the Asian rust fungus, even before they are deposited on leaf surfaces. With this information, the farmer not only knows that he needs to apply the fungicide, but also knows which is the best pesticide to combat that specific variant, given that each variant has different resistance to the active principles (study conducted by FMC, our client)