25^th Meeting of the EPPO Panel on Diagnostics in Bacteriology

Vilnius (LT), 2022-10-11/13

 

 

The meeting of the EPPO Panel on Diagnostics in Bacteriology was organized in Vilnius. 20 Panel members and 5 observers attended the meeting.

 

 

 

Revised EPPO Diagnostic Protocols

PM 7/023 Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. dieffenbachiae, PM 7/024 Xylella fastidiosa, PM 7/044 Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri, PM 7/043 Pseudomonas syringae pv. persicae and PM 7/065 Xanthomonas fragariae

The Panel reviewed and discussed the comments received during country consultation on the above protocols. New versions of the Diagnostic Protocols that take into account the discussion of the Panel will be prepared by the EPPO Secretariat and the Drafting Teams and sent for the final stage of consultation.

 

PM 7/121 ‘Candidatus Liberibacter africanus’, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter americanus’ and ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’

The Panel discussed the need to align the EPPO Diagnostic Protocol with the IPPC Diagnostic Protocol. The performance of the real-time PCR of Li et al. (2006) recommended in the EPPO Diagnostic Protocol and of the real-time PCR test of Bao et al. (2020) recommended in the IPPC Diagnostic Protocol were compared by ANSES (FR) and NIVIP (NL). The data from ANSES (FR) and NIVIP (NL) showed that there is no difference in the analytical sensitivity of the 2 tests. The Panel agreed that a revision was not needed.

 

PM 7/110 Xanthomonas spp. (Xanthomonas euvesicatoria, Xanthomonas gardneri, Xanthomonas perforans, Xanthomonas vesicatoria) causing bacterial spot of tomato and sweet pepper

A draft revised protocol was prepared by a drafting team composed of experts from GEVES (FR), ANSES (FR), NAKTUINBOW (NL), UNIMORE (IT), CREA (IT), INIAV (PT), ILVO (BE), FERA (GB) and from the Diagnostic Laboratory of Phytopathology of Alicante (ES). The Panel reviewed the main text of the diagnostic protocol, the appendices and the flow diagram. A new version of the Diagnostic Protocol that takes into account the discussion of the Panel will be prepared by the EPPO Secretariat and the Drafting Team and sent for country consultation.

 

 

New EPPO Diagnostic Protocols

Dickeya and Pectobacterium

The Panel reviewed and discussed the comments received during country consultation. A new version of the Diagnostic Protocol that takes into account the discussion of the Panel will be prepared by the EPPO Secretariat and the Drafting Team and sent for the final stage of consultation. The Diagnostic Protocol will be sent to the Drafting Team in charge of the development of the IPPC Diagnostic Protocol at the same time.

 

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for the identification of plant pathogenic bacteria

The first draft of the Standard Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) for the identification of plant pathogenic bacteria was presented to the Panel. The Drafting Team will continue to work on the Diagnostic Protocol in the next weeks.

 

 

Plans for future new diagnostic protocols

Proposals were made to develop Diagnostic Protocols on two pests for beans Xanthomonas phaseoli and Xanthomonas citri pv. fuscans.

 

 

Other topics

Euphresco

The 2022 Euphresco research topic 2022-A-406 ‘Diagnosis of Xylella fastidiosa: detection on dormant plant species which are important for Mediterranean countries’ was presented. The project will develop knowledge on the distribution and dynamics of Xylella fastidiosa in woody stems of important Mediterranean plants (e.g. almond, cherry and grapevine) throughout the year and during plant dormancy. The topic description is available here . Mr Giovani explained that it is still possible to join the research consortium. The project will start in Spring 2023.

 

The Panel discussed the results of the Euphresco project 2017-A-267 ‘Evaluation of current processes for bacteria detection and identification (ISONEED)’. The Panel agreed to publish the project report and prepare an article for publication in the EPPO Bulletin.

 

EFSA EPPO Collaboration

A presentation was made on EFSA activities on pest surveillance and the data needed to optimize the design of surveys (in particular in terms of collecting data on diagnostic sensitivity). It was agreed that EPPO and EFSA would continue to collaborate on this topic and involve EPPO Panels.

 

Next Panel meeting

The next meeting of the Panel on Diagnostics in Bacteriology will be held in the spring 2024.

 

Participants

The composition of the EPPO Panel on Diagnostics in Bacteriology can be found on the EPPO website.