TESTA

"Seed health: development of seed treatment methods, evidence for seed transmission and assessment of seed health."

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Healthy seed are key to high crop yields, underpinning European and global food security. A wide range of diseases and pests are carried by seed and as well as spreading and increasing old problems, new problems may be introduced into the European Community countries via this route. There are currently opportunities to improve seed quality control by implementing emerging novel methodologies. The TESTA project will develop a range of novel methods to underpin the control of these diseases and pests, including faster, more accurate methods to assess the mode of seed transmission, economic and practical sampling approaches for the detection of low levels in large seed lots, novel and efficient generic detection methodologies, non-destructive testing methods and improved, effective and sustainable disinfection methods. Target crop and disease/pest combinations have been identified in consultation with EPPO, ISHI-ISF and ISTA. Outcomes from the project will include a comprehensive electronic database of seed transmitted diseases and pests, validated detection methods for target species, a validation protocol for assessing the efficacy of disinfection, as well as many key scientific publications. These will provide supporting methods and sources for the EU seed testing laboratories and plant health services. The consortium comprises experienced researchers who have been involved in key previous research projects funded by the EU and national authorities, representatives of EPPO, ISTA plant health panel and ISHI working groups as well as seed testing laboratories and SMEs involved in seed production. The consortium includes a member from South Africa who is an international expert on seed production in non-EU countries and will provide insight into emerging risks. Involvement of these important players in the management of the project will guarantee that the project plans and outcomes are well-targeted and taken up in a practice so that the project legacy is ensured.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Researchers are improving seed quality control and ensuring a healthy seed trade by developing cost-effective methods to sample seed lots, detect pathogens and disinfect diseased seed.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Disease-causing pests and pathogens of crop plants are often carried and spread by plant seed, which is produced, traded and planted across the globe. Regulation and quality control of the plant seed trade relies on sampling and testing seed lots for pests and pathogens, as well as disinfection.

The EU-funded http://www.seedtesta.eu (TESTA) project aims to provide support to EU seed-testing laboratories by tracking how pathogens are transmitted by seeds. It is also developing new ways to treat infected seeds.

After selecting target crop and disease/pest combinations to work on, TESTA investigated how seed-borne bacterial and fungal pathogens are spread to other plants. Researchers also determined how much of each pathogen causes a plant infection, and how this relates to disease severity.

To trace seed-borne pathogens, TESTA developed statistical approaches to accurately sample low pathogen levels in large quantities of seed. To make such testing fast and cost effective, they are developing cutting-edge methods to detect several pathogens in one go and without destroying the seed.

When seeds are contaminated with one or more pathogens, the entire seed lot may be lost. TESTA is testing several non-chemical disinfection methods for different seed/pathogen combinations, including aerated steam treatment, biocontrol agents and essential oils.

In addition to compiling a comprehensive electronic database of seed-transmitted pests and diseases, TESTA will test its novel detection and disinfection methods on important crop species. Once validated, TESTA's protocols will provide a valuable resource for regulators, seed producers and inspection laboratories.