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South Australia has been dealing with outbreaks of Queensland Fruit Fly (Bactrocera tryoni) for several months, the largest of which is currently occurring in the Riverland region, several hours north of Adelaide.

As this is a dynamic and rapidly evolving outbreak, the use of the Genie III instrument running a bespoke nucleic acid based assay*, together with the service and technical support of GeneWorks has provided vital capability for in field testing.

The Genie III loop-mediated isothermal nucleic amplification (LAMP) assay allows for minimally trained staff to generate results in approx 30 min, with laboratory level equivalent sensitivity and specificity. Appropriate action can then occur immediately while staff are in situ, rather than waiting for several days for suspect larvae or adult flies to be transported back to the central laboratory for entomological analysis.

Nucleic acid extraction, isothermal amplification, quality controls and GPS location stamping are all conducted on the one portable unit.

In addition, the Genie III instrument is specifically designed for non laboratory environments such as this, having extensive battery power, robust and weather proof construction, and backlit display for low level light conditions.

Other Genie III assays that are available or in use in Australia and New Zealand include

• Veterinary assays such as Chlamydia pecorum for Koala wildlife rescue organisations
• Commercial agriculture screening such as Botrytis Cinerea for wine production
• Biosecurity applications such as Xylella fastidiosa.

GeneWorks are very proud to have been able to play our part in the management of the current outbreak, and with a range of other assays for plant, veterinary and bio security applications , and the ability to create bespoke, novel assays right here in Australia, we expect to see continuous growth in this important capability for Australian Agriculture and Biosecurity.

If you would like to know more, please get in touch with us today on

(03) 9013 0032

*https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32533005/

Photo credit: PIRSA