An optical detector for latent fungal infection in produce

用于农产品中潜在真菌感染的光学检测器

• 批准号: BB/X003744/1
• 负责人: Adrian Podoleanu
• 金额: $ 23.52万
• 依托单位: University of Kent
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FX003744%2F1
• 关键词: optical; detector; latent; fungal; infection

Food waste is a major problem, with huge environmental and economic impact. A significant cause of waste are fungal infections. Ideally, fruit that has been infected should be removed from storage as soon as possible to prevent spread of the infection and potentially the loss of the entire store. However, fungal infections are often latent in their early stages, meaning they are inactive ion or just below the surface and cannot be detected at an early stage, e.g. before the fruit is stored. These latent infection can quickly progress during the storage, infection spreading to the neighbouring produce causing significant losses. If there was a reliable method to detect this latent infection, there is potential to significantly reduce wastage.High-resolution optical imaging methods have shown huge promise in medicine as a means of detecting disease, often at an early stage. There is therefore an obvious potential to translate this technology to agriculture. In particular, optical coherence tomography allows 3D images to be acquired in timescales of around a second, penetrating 1-2 mm into tissue. It provides structural information down to a resolution of less than 10 microns (0.01 mm) without the need for destructive sampling, staining or preparation of the sample in any way. However, while OCT has shown some promise for imaging plants and fruit for some applications, the simple structural information it provides may not provide reliable detection of the subtle changes associated with latent fungal infection.In this project we will investigate and demonstrate a new approach for early detection of fungal infection in fruits. We will bring together the expertise in the design and development of optical imaging systems at the Applied Optics Group, University of Kent, with the horticulture and plant pathology expertise of the Pest and Pathogen Ecology team at NIAB EMR. We will develop a new imaging device designed for the detection of latent, early stage fungus infection and test it using cherry samples known to be carrying the fungus Monilinia laxa.The physical principles of the device will be similar in its elementary structure to the conventional OCT, using a combination of a laser-scanning probe head, a broadband optical source and a fast spectrometer to allow fast 3D imaging. However, unlike in conventional OCT, which provides a static snapshot of the structure of the sample, new investigative modalities will be harnessed based on recent developments in the OCT field for biomedical diagnosis. These will be implemented to perform a more subtle analysis of fruit samples, based on acquiring multiple forms of functional or dynamic information, including looking at how the microstructure of the sample responds to an external mechanical stimulus, and measuring both the magnitude and the frequency of intrinsic fluctuations on the scale of cellular components. These three techniques, known as optical coherence elastography (OCE), speckle variance (SV), and the newly emerging dynamic OCT (DyOCT) will be implemented in a single device, allowing the fruit to be comprehensively evaluated.The sensitivity and accuracy of the optical tools (OCT, OCE, SV, DyOCT) will be benchmarked using destructive methods such as isolation of live pathogen, localisation using fluorescent microscopy and quantification of fungal biomass with quantitative PCR.

食物浪费是一个主要问题，具有巨大的环境和经济影响。浪费的重要原因是真菌感染。理想情况下，应尽快将已感染的果实从存储中取出，以防止感染传播，并有可能损失整个商店。但是，真菌感染通常在早期阶段潜在潜在，这意味着它们是不活跃的离子或刚刚在表面以下，无法在早期阶段检测到。在储存水果之前。这些潜在的感染可以在存储期间迅速发展，感染扩散到邻近农产品，造成重大损失。如果有一种可靠的方法来检测这种潜在感染，则可能会大大减少浪费。高分辨率的光学成像方法在医学中表现出巨大的希望，作为一种检测疾病的手段，通常是在早期阶段。因此，将这项技术转化为农业有明显的潜力。特别是，光学相干断层扫描允许在大约一秒钟的时间尺度中获取3D图像，将1-2 mm穿透到组织中。它提供的结构信息降低到小于10微米（0.01 mm）的分辨率，而无需以任何方式进行破坏性采样，染色或制备样品。但是，尽管OCT在某些应用中表现出一些对植物和果实成像的希望，但它提供的简单结构信息可能无法提供与潜在真菌感染相关的细微变化的可靠检测。在该项目中，我们将调查并证明一种新方法，用于早期发现水果中真菌感染的方法。我们将在肯特大学应用光学小组的光学成像系统设计和开发方面汇集专业知识，以及NIAB EMR的PEST和病原体生态团队的园艺和植物病理学专业知识。我们将开发一种新的成像装置，旨在检测潜在的早期真菌感染，并使用已知正在携带真菌Monilinia laxa的樱桃样品对其进行测试。该设备的物理原理在其基本结构上与传统的OCT相似，使用激光扫描探针的组合，宽带光源，允许快速光谱图3DDIFMENT宽带光源允许使用宽带光源。但是，与常规OCT（提供样品结构的静态快照）不同，将根据OCT领域的最新发展进行生物医学诊断，将利用新的调查方式。这些将基于获取多种形式的功能或动态信息，包括研究样品的微观结构如何响应外部机械刺激，并测量细胞成分尺度上的内在波动的大小和频率和频率。 These three techniques, known as optical coherence elastography (OCE), speckle variance (SV), and the newly emerging dynamic OCT (DyOCT) will be implemented in a single device, allowing the fruit to be comprehensively evaluated.The sensitivity and accuracy of the optical tools (OCT, OCE, SV, DyOCT) will be benchmarked using destructive methods such as isolation of live pathogen, localisation using用定量PCR对真菌生物量的荧光显微镜和定量。