Diagnostic Tests and Fees

General Identification Services:

General Plant Disease Identification: (001) $18 for in-state | (001a) $38 for out-of-state

Most samples sent to the lab are for General Plant Disease identification. If you do not know what disease your plant might have, this is the test you should be requesting. The service includes overall evaluation, including microscopic exam, results from a moist chamber, isolation on artificial nutrient media, hypersensitive response, and identification of fungi or bacteria to genus. Viruses are identified using serology. Management recommendations are sent by email at a minimum of one week from the time we receive the plant material. More information about this test can be found here (https://extension.umaine.edu/ipm/how-to-send-a-plant-sample/#general).

Specialized Identification Services:

  • Nematode testing

    • Garlic Seed Testing: (002) $38 per sample of 5 bulbs for in-state / (002a) $68 for out-of-state samples — Includes testing for bloat nematode, white rot, and Botrytis neck and bulb rot. Any other fungus, bacteria, virus or Acari (mites) will be noted in the report. A minimum of five bulbs are required. More information about this test can be found here (https://extension.umaine.edu/ipm/how-to-send-a-plant-sample/#garlic).
    • Bloat Nematode Soil Test: (003) $25 per sample
    • Beech Leaf Disease Molecular Test: (004) $45 per sample / $20 each additional sample submitted at the same time — Plant tissue will be tested for Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mccannii by conventional PCR.

  • Fungus testing

    • Verticillium Wilt Soil Test: (005) $30 for in-state sample / $50 for out-of-state — Assaying field soil for the presence of Verticillium. This service analyzes the soil samples for propagules of the fungus Verticillium dahliae. We suggest a minimum of 5 samples per acre in order to get a reasonable representation of the field. This test takes a minimum of 4 weeks.
    • Verticillium Tissue Molecular Test: (006) $35 per sample / $20 each additional sample submitted at the same time — Plant tissue will be tested for Verticillium dahliae fungi by qPCR.
    • Colletotrichum spp Tissue Molecular Test: (007) $35 per sample / $20 each additional sample submitted at the same time — Plant tissue will be tested for Colletotrichum spp. fungi by qPCR.

  • Bacterium testing

    • Phytoplasma Molecular Test: (008) $45 per sample — Plant tissue will be tested for the genus Phytoplasma by qPCR.
    • Fire Blight Molecular Test: (009) $35 per sample / $20 each additional sample submitted at the same time — Plant tissue will be tested for Erwinia amylovora bacteria by qPCR.

  • Virus testing

    • Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV)
      • ToBRFV Seed Molecular Test: (010) $75 per sample (requires a minimum of 10g of seed for tomato and 20g of seed for pepper).
      • ToBRFV Tissue Molecular Test: (011) $45 per sample — Plant tissue will be tested for tomato brown rugose fruit virus by reverse transcription qPCR.
    • Dahlia Virus Molecular Test (DMV / DCMV): (012) $30 per sample — An AmpliFire fluorometer will be used to conduct isothermal DNA detection and identification following the Agdia protocol for DMV / DCMV.
    • Potato Virus Y (PVY) Strain Molecular Test: (013) $45 per sample — Plant tissue will be screened for the most common PVY strains.
    • Potyvirus Molecular Test: (014) $45 per sample / $20 each additional sample submitted at the same time — Plant tissue will be tested for the genus potyvirus by conventional reverse transcription PCR.

  • Water mold testing

    • Phytophthora spp Serological Test: (015) $45 per sample — Plant tissue will be tested for the genus Phytophthora by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)