Although not all pose a risk, mites, insects, fungi, bacteria and viruses can all harm plants, causing losses to farmers, reducing food production and damaging native flora. Over 300 organisms are banned or restricted from being brought into the EU because of their danger to plants.

National plant protection laboratories work hard to keep them out, using time-consuming diagnostic tests carried out by specialist scientists on suspect samples. But harmful species are difficult to spot, and safe species can look like them, so labs risk letting in pests or rejecting imports that are in fact safe.

The QBOL project developed a faster, more reliable testing system that makes screening easier. The system uses DNA barcodes – sequences of letters that describe distinctive parts of a species’ genetic code – for identification. The tool combines DNA testing guidance and a free online database to identify pests.

“The database – Q-bank – is very important to support trade in plants and regulate potentially harmful organisms,” says project coordinator Peter Bonants of Wageningen University & Research centre in the Netherlands.

He explains: “It protects exporters as well as importers. African exporters can guarantee their plants are safe, so they don’t pay shipping costs for products ultimately turned back at foreign ports.”

Because the QBOL process is faster than sequencing the whole organism – one day instead of one week – it uses expensive genetic sequencing machines more efficiently, says Bonants. This frees up resources in low-income countries and makes it easier for them to test imports to protect their own farmers and natural resources.

An investment in trade

DNA barcodes have been developed for six groups of EU quarantine species: fungi, arthropods (such as the natal fruit fly, which attacks orchard crops), bacteria, nematodes (or roundworms; for example, the citrus spreading decline nematode, which attacks citrus trees), viruses and phytoplasms.

Parts of the gene sequence that contain DNA unique to each species were then identified, based on samples from recognised national or academic collections. Different DNA extraction and sequencing processes were tested for each group, to find the most reliable, user-friendly process for each type of organism.

Using these procedures, the team generated the database’s barcodes for quarantine and lookalike species. The DNA database, along with sequencing procedures, news and other scientific information, are publicly available on the Q-bank website.

To check whether an organism should be quarantined, users generate a DNA barcode following the Q-bank procedure. They then copy and paste this sequence into the database interface to see if it matches a quarantine list species. If it doesn’t, the user can give the green light for import.

To help users make the most of the database, the 20-partner worldwide project held seven training courses on how to us it, two in South Africa and Kenya. With most attendees from national plant protection organisations, courses included practical work on DNA extraction and sequencing to build regional scientific capacity.

Between Q-bank’s launch in June 2010 and the end of QBOL in September 2012, the database website had over 10 000 visitors, well over its initial target of 2 000 per year. Visitor numbers continue to grow, says Bonants.

Although QBOL is now over, the Q-bank database and the collections used to build it need constant updates to ensure their quality, and the team welcomes new pest specimens or DNA.

The Dutch government is currently maintaining the database. However, the team is applying for further EU funding.

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