Plant health, virus indexing, and disease elimination

Why plant health matters

Viruses and other systemic pathogens accumulate in vegetatively propagated plant material over successive generations, reducing vigour and yield. For perennial and clonally propagated crops — berries, citrus, bananas, ginger, stone fruit, and many emerging-industry species — sustained productivity depends on starting with pathogen-tested mother plants and maintaining clean-stock programmes.

Hort Innovation invests in clean-plant programmes across several levied horticulture industries, and the Mohsin et al. (2025) Australian avocado case study quantifies the economic benefit of clonal tissue-cultured planting material: shorter supply lead times, price premiums, and productivity gains.

Services

Virus indexing and pathogen testing

Targeted testing for viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens of concern to specific crops. Tests are selected per species in line with Australian biosecurity priorities and industry clean-plant standards.

Disease elimination

Where a valuable cultivar is infected with a systemic pathogen, virus elimination is possible using meristem-tip culture, often combined with thermotherapy or chemotherapy. Recovered plantlets are re-indexed to confirm pathogen-free status before release.

Clean-stock programmes

Long-term maintenance of pathogen-tested mother plants in tissue culture, with scheduled re-indexing and multiplication on demand. Appropriate for breeders, variety holders, and industry clean-plant schemes.

Species and pathogens

We work with a broad range of species. Talk to us about the specific crop and pathogens of concern, and we will confirm what we can and cannot do and what external testing may be required.