Saving livestock fodder in East Africa: development of a rapid penside diagnostic assay for detection of napier grass stunt phytoplasma

Napier grass stunt is a disease associated with phytoplasmas belonging to the 16SrXI subgroup. The disease affects Pennisetum purpureum, a perennial grass species with significant importance in dairy livestock nutrition and ecological management of pests and parasitic weeds. The present study explores the development, testing and validation of field-friendly diagnostic tools for napier grass stunt phytoplasma detection in East Africa, based on an isothermal assay targeting the gene encoding the immunodominant protein of napier grass stunt phytoplasma.