After sampling, the soil is sent to the Nematology Laboratory at SASA. The laboratory is the single Scottish centre for the examination of all official PCN samples. Cyst nematodes are extracted from the soil samples using a carousel - an automated sieving and flotation technique.
Diagnoses from the extractions produced by the carousel are now carried out using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic technique developed at SASA for use on the floats from soil samples. This method has the advantage of having been developed for high throughput and consequently provides the laboratory with the ability to provide PCN diagnoses much more quickly than the more traditional method of visual examination.
Certificates of clearance are issued via the team who administer the Seed Potato Classification
Scheme, who also deal with the recording of infested land.
If you have any technical enquiries about soil sampling for PCN, please contact Jon Pickup or email the Zoology Team. If you are enquiring about the results of any soil samples that you have applied for, please contact Seed Potato Classification Scheme
SASA