Preparing for the transition of banana quarantine and diagnostics to Mickleham

Abstract

Banana (Musa sp.) tissue cultures are currently imported and grown through post-entry quarantine (PEQ) in dedicated Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) class 6.7 Approved Arrangement facilities, with a process management system approved by the Federal Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). Importation of banana germplasm was recently resourced by two Hort Innovation projects, BA10020 and BA16001, which together imported thirty-three banana cultivars and met all facility, husbandry and testing costs. Now that these projects are completed, the costs of facility maintenance and accreditation fall to the banana industry. Due to the high on-going costs of maintaining accreditation of pathway-specific glasshouse and tissue culture facilities, alternative arrangements are being sought to transition the importation of banana germplasm through DAFF’s national PEQ facility at Mickleham. As a first step, growth trials of domestic Musa material at PEQ Mickleham were successfully completed, proving that the multi-commodity glasshouses there are fit for growing bananas. As a second step, DAFF PEQ staff travelled to QDAF laboratories at the Ecosciences Precinct in Brisbane, Queensland to develop their skills in banana pathogen detection during PEQ screening of imported banana germplasm. Dr Kathy Crew led the training covering the biology of banana viral and phytoplasma pathogens as well as practical training in the laboratory demonstrating specialist laboratory techniques such as virus purification, immunosorbent electron microscopy and multiplex immunocapture molecular assays for known banana viruses. Further steps in transitioning banana diagnostics to Mickleham PEQ will include a reciprocal visit by Dr Crew to PEQ Mickleham for further training and troubleshooting, as well as side-by-side evaluation of current diagnostic methods and high throughput sequencing (HTS) of sRNA, for banana germplasm diagnostics.