Organization Plant Protection Service
Q-bank
On initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, a new diagnostic tool has become available for organisms harmful to crops and green space: Q-bank.
Q-bank is an online database which integrates morphological, molecular, physiological, biological and ecological information of bacteria, fungi, insects, nematodes, phytoplasmas, viruses and viroids, and invasive plants. Q-bank contains information and identifications, i.e. checked by specialists, as well as reference material of quarantine species, available in Dutch collections.
Q-bank is designed as a reference database for identification and phytosanitary organizations: national plant protection organizations, private laboratories and general inspection bodies. Reference material, digital keys, descriptions and photos are available in order to quickly and efficiently detect, diagnose and identify quarantine organisms and other pests. These descriptions are in addition to the type of information (diagnostic protocols, data sheets, distribution maps, PRA) generated online by other organizations such as CABI and EPPO.
Entries in Q-bank include physical specimens that are available in our collections, linked to molecular information. All reference material is available on demand, for research and validation of molecular methods. Data in Q-bank is continuously updated by a team of diagnostic experts from the National Reference Centre of the nVWA, in collaboration with researchers from Wageningen UR, Centraal Bureau voor Schimmelcultures and the Universities of Amsterdam and Leiden.
Website www.q-bank.eu
