Connect with:
Sunday / March 9. 2025

logo
mobile-logo
HomePosts Tagged "Agdia"
R&D

Agdia announced the launch of a new product that simplifies and speeds up the sample purification process for RT-qPCR-based detection of Potato Virus Y (PVY). Agdia’s new ImmunoCapture Antibody for PVY represents an innovative step forward for testing laboratories looking to improve both performance and efficiency when testing for this impactful virus

he potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) is a critical crop for global food security, cultivated across temperate and tropical regions. However, it is vulnerable to numerous pathogens with Potato virus Y (PVY) being the most significant, capable of causing up to 80% crop losses in heavily infected fields. PVY affects a wide range of solanaceous crops, including potato, tomato, eggplant, and pepper, as well as ornamental plants and weeds, posing a severe threat to agriculture.

PVY strains are categorized into three phylogroups: O (ordinary), C (common), and N (necrotic), along with recombinant strains like PVYO+C and PVYNTN. Symptoms vary but can include foliar mosaic patterns, necrosis, premature leaf drop, and tuber necrotic ringspots. Transmission occurs via 50+ aphid species, which spread the virus over long distances, in addition to transmission by mechanical means like plant contact caused by wind or human activity. Infected seed tubers are the primary inoculum source for PVY.

Management relies on maintaining certified seed tubers and identifying infected seed by diagnostic workflows, including serological tests like ELISA, ImmunoStrip®, AmplifyRP® and laboratory-based molecular tools such as RT-qPCR (quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction). These approaches, coupled with winter grow-out trials, are vital for identifying and mitigating PVY’s impact on potato production.

Although qPCR methods for detection of PVY are highly sensitive and specific, the labor and extraction kit materials required for traditional nucleic acid purification can be cost-prohibitive for certification purposes. Traditional nucleic acid purification materials and reagents can be costly and require multiple steps, each of which is a critical control point that can be subject to errors. Immunocapture simplifies this process by combining pathogen isolation and nucleic acid preparation into a single step.

Incorporating an immunocapture step in qPCR/RT-qPCR combines serological (antibody-based) and molecular (DNA- or RNA-based) detection techniques that can result in gains for both assay performance and method efficiency.

With immunocapture methods, specific antibodies are immobilized on a solid surface (ex: PCR microtiter plates) to bind to target pathogens (in this case, PVY). The binding step effectively concentrates the virus, and a simple washing step separates it from inhibitors commonly found in complex biological samples such as macerated tuber tissue. The captured viral particles are then lysed to release their nucleic acids, which serve as the template for the qPCR method that follows.

Immunocapture not only speeds up the purification process, but also offers more opportunities for high-throughput process automation since it occurs in a simple PCR plate versus the various tubes, filters, etc. which are required in traditional nucleic acid purification.

Traditional nucleic acid extraction methods co-purify all nucleic acids present in a sample extract. With immunocapture purification, only the target antigens (ex: PVY) are bound to the antibodies while all other sample materials are washed away. This leads to fewer chances for inhibiting substances and non-target DNA or RNA to interfere with the downstream qPCR/RT-qPCR protocol.

For a high-throughput PCR lab, Agdia’s ImmunoCapture Antibody for Potato Virus Y streamlines the testing process, reduces costs, and improves both the sensitivity and reliability of detecting PVY. By integrating this innovative reagent, labs can process more samples faster with higher confidence in the results, making it a superior choice over traditional nucleic acid extraction methods for the detection of PVY.

Agdia announced the launch of a new

Agribusiness, Agrotech, Company News, North America, R&D

Agdia’s new AmplifyRP® XRT assay provides growers from multiple cropping systems with varying levels of expertise with a powerful diagnostic tool.

 Agdia, Inc., a leading provider of plant diagnostic products and services, announced the introduction of an assay for detection of Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus on their popular AmplifyRP® XRT platform. Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV) is a Polerovirus of emerging importance to cucurbit growers worldwide. This virus was initially characterized in France in 1992 and has since spread to regions of cucurbit production around the world, resulting in yield reductions of up to 50% during severe outbreaks. Surveys indicate that CABYV is one of the most widespread viruses infecting cucumbers throughout European greenhouses and has seemingly been present in Asia and the Mediterranean basin for several decades. Limited, yet concerning outbreaks of CABYV have occurred in Africa, South America and the U.S. High disease incidence, wide host range, virulence and vector ubiquity have combined to make CABYV a significant concern for global cucurbit production.

In addition to most cultivated species of cucurbits, CABYV is known to infect beet, chickpea, faba bean, lettuce, passionfruit and tomato. Moreover, several weedy species in Amaranthaceae, Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Lamiaceae and Malvaceae function as virus reservoirs in the absence of cultivated hosts.

Successful management of CABYV in fields and greenhouses is complex, utilising multiple strategies, including exclusion of virus sources and vectors, vector management and disruption of vector activities. Genetic resistance has been identified in cucurbit spp.; however, the resistance genes in crops other than melon have not been characterized and are not commercially available.

Accurate and timely diagnosis of plants infected with viruses is paramount to successful management throughout the growing season, including the establishment and transplanting phases. And Agdia’s new AmplifyRP® XRT assay for detection of Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus provides growers from multiple cropping systems with varying levels of expertise with a powerful diagnostic tool. AmplifyRP® XRT technology promotes the rapid amplification and detection of nucleic acid targets, DNA or RNA, while maintaining a single operating temperature of 42oC. The AmplifyRP® XRT products achieve target sensitivity and specificity comparable to qPCR while having clear advantages over the lab-based technology. AmplifyRP® XRT products do not require a nucleic acid purification step, as crude sample extracts are prepared using a simple extraction buffer and tested directly. When paired with Agdia’s AmpliFire® isothermal fluorometer, the XRT system is a rapid, user-friendly tool that can be implemented in the field or the lab by personnel with limited experience in molecular diagnostics.

Agdia states their new assay for CABYV will detect several known isolates from around the world. Moreover, the assay was validated against a comprehensive panel of potential cross reactors, including viruses known to infect cucurbits and cause similar symptomology. The only cross reactor identified was Melon aphid-borne yellows virus. This product was developed to be used with leaf, petiole and stem tissue. The introduction of Agdia’s new AmplifyRP® XRT assay expands their catalog to 28 products on this platform.

Agdia’s new AmplifyRP® XRT assay provides growers