Australian BioCommons, enabled through Bioplatforms Australia, provided a scalable computational foundation to modernise pathogen detection. Using Galaxy Australia, researchers at Queensland University of Technology and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) developed VirReport, an automated bioinformatics workflow that uses small RNA sequencing to detect viruses and viroids with high sensitivity. Galaxy Australia enabled the end-to-end automation of this pipeline, integrating required tools, supporting workflow execution, and providing API-based functionality from data upload through to results delivery.
As a result, VirReport has become part of DAFF’s primary routine screening method for multiple high-risk crops, with many samples processed to date. Quarantine staff have been trained to undertake tasks that once required highly specialised bioinformatics expertise, significantly increasing throughput, reducing manual workload, and improving consistency.
This NCRIS-enabled capability is strengthening Australia’s frontline biosecurity system by enabling faster, more reliable detection of emerging plant diseases, helping to protect national food security and the broader economy.
Learn more about the implementation of the Galaxy Australia viral screening workflow in the publication Implementation of GA-VirReport, a Web-Based Bioinformatics Toolkit for Post-Entry Quarantine Screening of Virus and Viroids in Plants.
