PITCH CANKER, CAUSED BY FUSARIUM CIRCINATUM, IS AN AGGRESSIVE DISEASE AFFECTING MOST PINUS SPECIES,AND IS CURRENTLY CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST SERIOUS DISEASES OF PINES WORLDWIDE, ESPECIALLY INNURSERIES AND INTENSIVELY MANAGED PLANTATIONS. DUE TO RECENT OUTBREAKS, CONTROL OF THIS PATHOGEN ISONE OF THE TOP FOREST HEALTH PRIORITIES OF THE FORESTRY INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTHERN US REGION, AS WELL AS INOTHER COUNTRIES.UNFORTUNATELY, CHEMICAL CONTROL HAS LIMITED APPLICABILITY IN NATURAL FORESTS, NOR IS CONSIDERED AVIABLE OPTION IN PLANTATIONS AND NURSERIES, HENCE, PREVENTION IS ONE THE FEW CURRENTLY AVAILABLESHORT-TERM OPTIONS TO LIMIT ITS IMPACT.THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND DELIVER TO FORESTRY INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS AN AFFORDABLESYSTEM AND PORTABLE TOOL FOR THE EARLY DETECTION OF AIRBORNE F. CIRCINATUM SPORES AND INFECTEDTISSUES, AND TO FAMILIARIZE THEM WITH THE TECHNIQUE. OUR OBJECTIVES ARE TO (I) DESIGN AND VALIDATE APATHOGEN-SPECIFIC LOOP MEDIATED ISOTHERMAL AMPLIFICATION (LAMP) ASSAY; (II) IDENTIFY THE BEST LOWCOSTSPORE TRAP, SAMPLING STRATEGY AND IN-FIELD DNA EXTRACTION METHOD TO BE COUPLED WITH THE FIELDPORTABLELAMP ASSAY; (III) PROVIDE TRAINING TO COMMERCIAL PINE STAKEHOLDERS FOR THE USE OF THEPORTABLE DEVICE AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTEGRATED DETECTION SYSTEM.THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A LOW-COST LAMP TECHNOLOGY CAN BE A GAME-CHANGER IN THE EARLY DETECTIONOF F. CIRCINATUM, AND WILL ALLOW FOR SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT OF PITCH CANKER. MOREOVER, THIS ASSAYWOULD BE CRUCIAL TO MONITOR THE PRESENCE OF THIS QUARANTINE PATHOGEN DURING INTERNATIONAL TRADES OFSEEDS AND SEEDLINGS, PREVENTING ITS FURTHER SPREAD WORLDWIDE.