European interlaboratory comparison of detection methods for “flavescence dorée” phytoplasma: preliminary results

A working group was established in the frame of EUPHRESCO Phytosanitary ERA-NET Project aimed to compare and validate diagnostic protocols for the detection of “flavescence dorée” phytoplasma in grapevine. Seven molecular protocols were compared in interlaboratory trials starting from extracted DNAs prepared in one laboratory. The tested molecular protocols consisted of universal and group-specific real-time and conventional nested PCR assays. Real-time PCR protocols, generally, revealed higher values of diagnostic sensitivity and diagnostic specificity than conventional PCR protocols. These preliminary results require a statistical analysis to confirm the performances of the protocols.