Potato Grower

WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 37 portunity to perform tuber testing pro- tocols in the lab. Jason Ingrahm from USDA-ARS Cornell led participants in the performance of a method where potatoes cores are pressed onto special paper that preserves nucleic acids. Paper punches containing the sample can then go through an RNA extraction process using a robotic instrument called a KingFisher which was demonstrated by representatives of Thermo Fisher Sci- entific. This instrument is widely used in high-through- put diagnostics for both human, animal and plant pathogens. An advantage of this system is that once the nucleic acid has been extract- ed, multiple pathogens can be detect- ed. Brooke Babler from the Wisconsin program demonstrated another nucleic acid extraction instrument called the Maxwell that their program uses for extractions for Pectobacterium and Dickeya testing. Alice Pilgeram from the Montana Seed Potato Certification Program instructed participants on all of the steps to perform immunocap- ture, which is a PVY specific test where antibodies are used to capture the virus, and PCR is performed on the captured virus. An advantage of this protocol is that it does not require nucleic acid extraction which eliminates the need for robotic nucleic acid extraction. A dis- advantage is that it is limited to a single pathogen. Lisa Tran from Idaho Crop and University of Idaho performed a cost analysis on all of the protocols. This was extremely informative and illustrated to participants the investment that would be required to establish a dormant tuber testing program. Many programs already have PCR instruments but those who don't would have to make a minimum $28,000 for a Real-Time machine. The robotic nucleic acid extraction robots start at $41,000 for the 16 sample Maxwell and go from $60,000-75,000 for a KingFisher which processes 96 samples, the equivalent of an ELISA plate. The most valuable aspect of this workshop, as with all gatherings of professionals dedicated to the same objective, was the development of connections that will facilitate future communication and collaboration. Go- ing forward, certification labs will need to work together to establish recognized standard protocols that facilitate trans- ferability of dormant tuber test results between states. This workshop was a great first step in this process. This group will continue to work towards the objective of establish- ing standard protocols through research funded by the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, and vetted by the Certifica- tion Section of the Potato Association of America.PG

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