Facilitating the adoption of high‐throughput sequencing technologies as a plant pest diagnostic test in laboratories: A step‐by‐step description

International audienceHigh-throughput sequencing (HTS) is a powerful tool that enables the simultaneous detection and potential identification of any organisms present in a sample. The growing interest in the application of HTS technologies for routine diagnostics in plant health laboratories is triggering the development of guidelines on how to prepare laboratories for performing HTS testing. This paper describes general and technical recommendations to guide laboratories through the complex process of preparing a laboratory for HTS tests within existing quality assurance systems. From nucleic acid extractions to data analysis and interpretation, all of the steps are covered to ensure reliable and reproducible results. These guidelines are relevant for the detection and identification of any plant pest (e.g. arthropods, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, invasive plants or weeds, protozoa, viroids, viruses), and from any type of matrix (e.g. pure microbial culture, plant tissue, soil, water), regardless of the HTS technology (e.g. amplicon sequencing, shotgun sequencing) and of the application (e.g. surveillance programme, phytosanitary certification, quarantine, import control). These guidelines are written in general terms to facilitate the adoption of HTS technologies in plant pest routine diagnostics and enable broader application in all plant health fields, including research. A glossary of relevant terms is provided among the Supplementary Material

Guidelines for the reliable use of high throughput sequencing technologies to detect plant pathogens and pests

High-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies have the potential to become one of the most significant advances in molecular diagnostics. Their use by researchers to detect and characterize plant pathogens and pests has been growing steadily for more than a decade and they are now envisioned as a routine diagnostic test to be deployed by plant pest diagnostics laboratories. Nevertheless, HTS technologies and downstream bioinformatics analysis of the generated datasets represent a complex process including many steps whose reliability must be ensured. The aim of the present guidelines is to provide recommendations for researchers and diagnosticians aiming to reliably use HTS technologies to detect plant pathogens and pests. These guidelines are generic and do not depend on the sequencing technology or platform. They cover all the adoption processes of HTS technologies from test selection to test validation as well as their routine implementation. A special emphasis is given to key elements to be considered: undertaking a risk analysis, designing sample panels for validation, using proper controls, evaluating performance criteria, confirming and interpreting results. These guidelines cover any HTS test used for the detection and identification of any plant pest (viroid, virus, bacteria, phytoplasma, mycetes, nematodes, arthropods, plants) from any type of matrix. Overall, their adoption by diagnosticians and researchers should greatly improve the reliability of pathogens and pest diagnostics and foster the use of HTS technologies in plant health