Emerging Applications of Droplet Microfluidics in Plant Diagnostics and Pest Management

Abstract

Droplet-based microfluidic platforms has witnessed significant progress in the recent past. In droplet microfluidics, single and discrete droplets are operated on a flat, hydrophobic platform by on-chip electrical forces. The droplet operations can be in various configurations designed to implement algorithms and process flows for the droplet generation, transport, mixing, dispensing, and splitting on the same platform. The discrete droplets provide a versatile compartment to encapsulate microscale particles and organisms while exposing them to a multitude of chemicals or biological reagents. There are a range of new experiments in plant pathology and integrated pest management that benefit from the several advantages of droplet microfluidics, including high throughput screening, automated manipulation of droplets, and real-time imaging of chemical processes at microscale. Within agriculture, droplet microfluidics has proven to be a flexible and versatile platform for behavioral phenotyping of microorgansims, understanding host-pathogen relationships, and discovering new chemicals and natural pesticides for pest control in a sustainable manner. In this review, we cover the abovementioned topics pertaining to the existing and emerging applications of droplet microfluidics within the field of agriculture.