A simple and rapid method for wheat blast detection in the field

Abstract Wheat blast, caused by the Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum pathotype (MoT), is a devastating fungal disease that poses a significant global threat to wheat production. Rapid diagnosis is crucial for effective monitoring, containment, and management of this highly transmissible pathogen. In this study, we developed an integrated field-detection kit, named W heat B last R apid D etection Kit (WB-RD kit), which utilizes recombinase polymerase amplification coupled with a nucleic acid lateral flow immunoassay (RPA–NALFIA). The kit is stable for room temperature transportation and achieves a limit of detection as low as 0.1 ng/μL for MoT genomic DNA. The RPA reaction only requires a constant temperature of 39°C for 10 min. The positive result is indicated by the appearance of both a control line and a test line on the lateral flow strip within 5 min. This rapid, precise, user-friendly, and portable method is suitable for both on‑site diagnosis and phytosanitary inspection of seed shipments, providing a practical tool for frontline disease monitoring and quarantine.