Project description

In practice, finding infected individual plants in a dense or extensive plant population is a major challenge. Currently, pathogens are detected by analysing random samples. Due to the limited number of plants analysed, infections can easily remain undetected and develop into a serious infestation under the right conditions. With the help of trained sniffer dogs, on the other hand, a comprehensive examination of large plant populations is possible quickly and efficiently. Dogs have an extremely good sense of smell and are already used to detect various substances or pathogens in humans. Diseases change the physiology of the diseased organism and therefore also the odour. These changes are the basis for the detection of pathogens by sniffer dogs. The PATDOG project is testing whether dogs can detect the pathogens that cause the plant diseases fire blight and chestnut blight.

Fire blight, caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, can cause considerable yield losses in pome fruit and various wild and ornamental plants under favourable weather conditions, with infected plants without symptoms often serving as the starting point for foci of infection. Chestnut blight, caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, is a widespread disease of sweet chestnuts. Early remediation of the affected areas is the most important control measure.

This project is investigating whether trained dogs can reliably recognise these pathogens and thus enable early detection of potentially dangerous diseases. It is also being investigated up to what concentrations the dogs can find and accurately detect the pathogens. In field trials, it is being tested whether the dogs search the entire plant population and how high the hit rate is when detecting infected plants.

Greenhouse trials will test whether the sniffer dogs could transfer the pathogens from plant to plant during their work and how high the associated risk of spread is.

In addition, a requirements profile for plant protection dog teams will be drawn up, which will serve as the basis for the content of appropriate training. This can be used to develop a possible certification for dog trainers and dogs.

Benefits of the project

The aim of the PATDOG project is to train sniffer dogs to detect the pathogens that cause fire blight and canker. The dogs should be able to recognise these pathogens in plant populations and find them even in low concentrations. This will establish a new method for the early and non-invasive detection of plant disease pathogens. Early, reliable detection of plant diseases combined with hygiene measures, such as cutting out diseased plant parts, prevents the pathogens from spreading further.