In Situ Diagnosis and Digital Cataloguing of Plant Pathogenic Fungi Through Mobile-Based Foldscope Microscopy

Abstract

Agriculture confronts multifaceted challenges across the spectrum of crop production, with pest and disease management being a prominent concern. Timely diagnosis of crop diseases is imperative for mitigating production costs and curbing the adverse environmental impacts of chemical pesticides. In the present investigation, mobile phone-based foldscope microscopy (MBFM) was used to diagnose various field samples infected with fungal diseases of field and horticultural crops, and the same was validated with the normal microscope pictures and field symptoms. The MBFM was also used to diagnose seed-borne microflora associated with wheat and spores of commercial formulation of bioagents and validated. The MBFM utilises both symptoms and morphological structures of pathogen for in situ field diagnosis and hence advantages over the symptom-based mobile Apps. This study underscores the utility of foldscope microscope as a potent technique for plant pathologists and extension workers to enable real-time and in situ identification of diseases caused by fungal pathogens in various agricultural crops.