The potential of Dot-Blot Assay in detection of rice Tungro Viruses from Rice plants in the fields in East Malaysia: a preliminary study

Abstract

A large scale Rice Tungro Disease (RTD) outbreak can cause major losses in rice production and incomes for farmers (Azzam & Chancellor, 2002; Muralidharan et al., 2003). Detecting RTD based on expression of symptoms during an outbreak may be too late to salvage the situation. Therefore, an early detection of RTD using a simple and fast method is helpful in preventing and managing the disease in wide and remote areas. This study was conducted to determine the potential of using Dot-Blot Assay to detect RTD in the fields outside of a laboratory setting.