42 / SEEDWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2018 BACTERIAL FRUIT BLOTCH, Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli (BFB), is an infectious seed borne disease that can cause up to 90 percent loss of market- able yield in some cucurbit (watermelon, melon, squash varieties, etc.) fields. Even low levels of infection can cause sig- nificant crop loss. There are no effective eradication treatments, which means exclusion is the best method of disease control. Since there are also no resistant commercial varieties, BFB management depends on growers using pathogen-free seeds and seedlings. It is paramount for seed companies to test their seed for BFB before sale, and most governments require inspection for import/export. All levels of seed should be tested: foundation, stock and commercial seed. Phytosanitary field inspections are not enough to detect infected plants as Testing for Bacterial Fruit Blight in Cucurbit Seed ANDREW LYON EUROFINS BDI, BACTERIAL FRUIT BLOTECH SUPERVISOR AndrewLyon@eurofinsUS.com • eurofinsus.com HOW DO YOU become leading within the industry, with a product that out- shines all its competitors? Is it by follow- ing everyone else’s footsteps? Swedes have a saying that goes, “Only the dead fish follow the stream.” The same goes for you when the key is to provide a seed with qualities and values that everyone is aspiring to achieve. NoroGard will help you become an independent seed processing corporation in four steps. First, make your own recipes. Our NoroGard laboratory seed coaters are top of the line, developed and designed with support from seed breeders and labora- tories worldwide in order to provide the ideal laboratory batch treaters for coating and pelletizing. This includes high preci- sion, accuracy and high application quality. As well as a batch treater, which is easy to operate and clean, with a perfect pelletiz- ing result. By making your own recipes, you keep the knowledge within your own circle, as well as being able to profit by cutting down on intermediaries. Secondly, making sure to provide our customers with customization options in order to present equipment that is com- pletely fitted to your needs. All NoroGard seed coaters are equipped with the sophis- ticated technology you need to achieve cutting edge performance. Offering a tailored product that is fit to your needs provides a great advantage as this proves as an opportunity to grow and develop your business. Third, providing our customers with technical support. All our seed coaters are designed and produced within our facilities. This means we are in full control of every step along the production line, and our technicians are part of the development of our machinery. Regardless of what query or thought you may have regarding your NoroGard Seed Coater, we make sure to maintain the support you need, when you need it. And last, we provide our customers with a product that has a long-lifetime and a low life cost. A good economy in your investment calls for a quick return of invest- ment, without intermediaries within the process chain. The NoroGard seed coat- ers are designed to last for up to 20 years which means that not only do you gain multiple advantages with your NoroGard seed coater, the same advantages will also bring you a fast return of investment which will lay ground for further profitability. So, how´s your business? Are you pro- viding the seed with qualities and values that everyone is aspiring to achieve? Four Steps How You Become Market Leading Within the Industry KETTY NILSSON NOROGARD PRESIDENT @NoroGardAB • Ketty@NoroGard.com • NoroGard.com the symptoms that form can be indistin- guishable from other foliar disease. At the end of the day it is important to know that lawsuits filed by growers who received infected seed can run into the millions Multiple methods are available to test for BFB. At Eurofins BDI we use both the grow-out and seed wash PCR methods. Both of these methods are validated by the National Seed Health System, and we are ISO17025 accredited to perform them. The seed wash PCR test is an indi- rect method to detect the presence of Acidovorax, but it gives no information on pathogens virulence or viability. Therefore seed wash results must be validated by a greenhouse grow-out to determine the biological state of the pathogen. Greenhouse grow-outs are the most reliable method for detection with the lowest risk for false-positives. A represent- ative sample of seeds per production lot is visually inspected after 18 days of growth in high humidity for BFB symptoms. Eurofins BDI has 13,000-sq.ft. of green- house space in Longmont, Colorado, plus 5,000-sq-ft. in Gilroy, California. Positive controls of each crop species are planted in every greenhouse. Symptomatic tissue is collected and small pieces are placed into a micro tube for immunostrip testing. Sample DNA will then be extracted and run through a qPCR reaction for detection of bacterial presence. Suspect tissue will then be plated on selec- tive media to isolate the bacteria into pure culture. We finalize testing by reintroducing the cultured suspect bacteria into a healthy host plant. To confirm a positive finding we must see symptoms concurrent with BFB, and be able to isolate Acidiovorax citrulli from the artificially infected host.