Volume 3 Issue 2, February 2022

The Director’s Corner

Carrie Harmon

Dear NPDN friends,

I hope you had a chance to rest and see loved ones over the winter break. I have never been one for New Year’s resolutions, but each January I do usually feel a need to assess current situations and plan for the future. I am by nature a planner, able to deal with most anything if I can devise Plan A and maybe B, but anxious and restless if unannounced events disrupt my schedule. I am learning a hard lesson these days, as COVID continues to mess with just about everything. In my lab, we have adjusted to wearing KN95s, lab meetings in the classroom to keep us spread out, and lunches and breaks by ourselves to minimize potential spread. While we are getting the job done (win!), I see my students and staff are increasingly tired, and I too feel a sense of loneliness and fatigue (loss!). Since we have almost no tours of the lab, or meetings to discuss successes, I have been forced to devise new ways to communicate the impact and wonder of our lab and our science. This pressure to get creative, to find ways to connect while being efficient in effort, has reinvigorated our work to describe and communicate the NPDN’s impact at the local and national level. To that end, watch for NPDN data to highlight your work and your impact this spring in summaries to NIFA that will be available to you as well. Additionally, I have been asked what the leadership team has been working on, so I thought I would give you the top topics of our calls the past few months: NDR data access for state and federal regulatory partners (how to do this carefully, so our diagnosticians don’t have extra work, while providing context and access that are useful to the broader plant protection mission); long-term viability and growth of the network via relationship-building and diversified support; policies and programs to support and define our mission and yours while keeping to the “KISS” mentality; long-term regional and national program management to streamline programs, increase accountability, and include diverse representation. As I re-read that list, it sounds so… abstract. It is hard for me to describe the number of calls and emails, documents and discussions, and thoughtful work that goes into getting it right. If you are curious (and have lots of free time), you can soon read through the minutes of the leadership calls to get a better feel for where we are headed and what it takes to get us there. I encourage you to check into the committee pages to get a full appreciation of just how much work is getting done, and the care with which plans are made and efforts undertaken. Here is my shameless plug for committee involvement – this network doesn’t run on Dunkin’, it runs on diagnosticians and distributed effort! We need your ideas, your enthusiasm, your help to keep the work from overwhelming those who have stepped up. The best cure for not knowing what is going on is getting involved. And the best way to repay those who have paved a path? The same thing. Diagnosticians are a self-deprecating bunch of incredible professionals, but the most welcoming and appreciative scientists I know of. Give back and you always get more in return, even if (especially if!) you are just starting out.

I suppose my January “taking stock” has been time well spent — so I can get a leg up on planning for the next thing, cheering us all on, and reducing my overall anxiety at having so little control over the current global mess. As I read through your reports, I realize there are plans in place everywhere, and I am so glad they include friends like you.

Thank you for all you do,
Carrie

Register for the 2022 NPDN National Meeting

Visit the meeting webpage for details about the program, workshops, field trips, and to register.

Important dates to remember

Award nomination deadline Feb. 25, 2022
Oral/Poster abstract submission deadline Feb. 25, 2022
Early registration closes March 4, 2022
Hotel blocks close April 2, 2022

COVID-19 Information

We are still planning to hold the 2022 NPDN national meeting in person. A webpage created to communicate updates on COVID guidelines for the meeting, and containing links to guidelines for UC-Davis and Yolo county, can be found online at https://www.npdn.org/2022_national_meeting/covid-updates
Hotel-specific COVID information (food availability, masking policies, housekeeping services, etc.) can be found on the hotel’s webpage or by contacting the hotel directly.

Request for Photos of Abiotic Problems

Melodie Putnam and Raj Singh are soliciting images of abiotic problems for use in a session at the NPDN national meeting. They need images and information by March 30. More details are available online.

Workshops and Field Trips

Workshops and Field Trips will be offered on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30 at various locations. Click here for details.

NPDN Member Finds Leaping Larvae in Fungus-Ridden Campus Tree

Matt Bertone, North Carolina State University

It’s a familiar story to all of you, I’m sure: You see an obviously dying tree with abundant fungal growth on it, so you wander over and take a closer look. In October of 2019, this happened to me, and it led to the description of a new insect behavior.

Most of us in the lab noticed the decline of one of the Darlington oaks (Quercus hemisphaerica), prominently planted on the edge of a greenscape in the middle of North Carolina State University’s campus (Fig. 1). We walked by it often, and it had lost most of its leaves, though even after extensive sampling we were never able to diagnose the cause of the decline.

Figure 1. The Darlington oak (Quercus hemisphaerica) on campus where the larvae were collected.

The oak was shedding chunks of bark, revealing developing brown mats of the decay fungus Biscogniauxia atropunctata. Before campus groundskeepers could cut the offensive tree down, I knew I had to sample the insects and other arthropods found under its bark. And, what a bounty I found! I tweeted about some things from under the bark, which included numerous species of beetles (both adults and larvae), lance flies and larvae (Lonchaeidae), flat bugs (Aradidae), mites, and ants. I even collected some parasitoid wasps. Before preserving them as specimens for our collection, I wanted to get live photos.

I began placing some small beetle larvae (Fig. 2) (later identified as lined flat bark beetles, Laemophloeus biguttatus) on sections of bark to take the photos, when I noticed they would crawl for a short distance and then stop before hopping into the air a short distance. There were also maggots in the same sample that were leaping, but this was not news. Jumping beetle larvae? That was interesting.

Read More

Getting to Know Our Regulatory Partners

This is the first in a series of interviews of APHIS and State Department of Agriculture colleagues conducted by the NPDN Regulatory Relations committee.

Dr. Patrick J. Shiel

NPPLAP Coordinator, USDA-APHIS-PPQ, Science and Technology – Raleigh, North Carolina

I was born in New York to emigrant parents who were raised on farms in the west of Ireland. My graduate work was in forest pathology and later in plant virology. For 15 years, I was a researcher and lab manager in plant virology at the University of Idaho. I finished my PhD and left Idaho in 2004 as an acting assistant professor to start my career in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I joined the Science and Technology section of Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) just as the National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN) was being organized and just before the PPQ emergency program for Phytophthora ramorum occurred. Since then, I have been involved in that program as well as the plum pox virus eradication program, the pale cyst nematode program, the citrus health response to citrus greening pathogens, and the wheat stem rust programs.

What is your role with USDA-APHIS?

When I started my career at PPQ, I was providing general scientific support to develop better diagnostic tools that could be applied to PPQ programs.
My role gradually shifted to developing diagnostic lab capacity and capabilities for regulatory pathogens. We did this by engaging the NPDN, the state departments of agriculture laboratories, as well as private and commodity group labs. As this role grew, we began testing the use of laboratory quality management concepts for the labs we engage. This led to my involvement in the development of the NPDN STAR-D program as well as supporting the current NPDN quality management and professional development initiatives.
My position continues to evolve. I am now the science and technology (S&T) lead in providing scientific support for the PPQ P. ramorum and plum pox virus programs. These are new roles for me and give me the opportunity to expand my interactions with the NPDN to fulfill the diagnostic needs of these important regulatory programs.

What is your favorite part of your job?

Read More

New Faces in NPDN

Dr. Emran Ali – NEPDN

Dr. Ali recently joined as state Extension specialist and associate professor of plant pathology in the Department of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Additionally, he will serve as a director of the UNH Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab. Prior to joining UNH, Ali worked as faculty and director of the Plant Molecular Diagnostic Lab in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Georgia with a split appointment of research (70%) and Extension (30%). During his postdoc periods at The Ohio State University and Washington State University, his research focused on etiology, epidemiology, and plant-microbe interactions primarily on RNA silencing mediated disease resistance mechanisms. As a faculty member at the University of Georgia, he worked on the development of cost-effective, rapid, and accurate modern diagnosis methods for various plant pathogens. Besides his research, he also provided advanced disease diagnosis support and fungicide-resistance testing services to multiple stakeholders in Georgia. To date, Ali has published more than 55 manuscripts in internationally reputed peer-reviewed journals. In 2021 he received a Junior Research Scientist Award for Excellence (Research category, UGA, Tifton Campus). In his new role, Ali will be working across several Extension teams, lending his expertise to the diversity of plant growers in New Hampshire. He will teach one course per year on advanced tools and techniques of plant disease diagnosis. During his first months, he will be putting the finishing touches on the brand new UNH Plant Diagnostic Lab which is currently under construction on the UNH Durham campus. He is thrilled about his new role and open to collaborate with plant disease diagnosticians across the region and contribute to the National Plant Diagnostic Network.

Protocols and Validation Quick and Useful Tips

Bugwood Images: Submitting Plant Pathogen and Microbial Culture Images

Joe LaForest, Bugwood and Margaret Moll, University of Idaho

The Bugwood Image Database was created to provide an easily accessible source of images for Extension and education. Although it started with 3,500 images from the Southern Forest Work Conference, it has expanded to contain more than 313,000 images including all taxonomic groups, abiotic disorders, crop production practices, pesticide safety, forestry and natural areas, urban environments, household pests, biological controls, biosecurity, and medical entomology. As additional areas of need have been noted by users, the system continues to expand by both recruiting additional images and improving the site navigation to improve use of the resource.
In 2016, it was noted that there were many images of field signs and symptoms caused by pathogens, but there were few images that covered what a diagnostician in a lab might encounter. This included images of pathogens growing on different media. From this a new section of IPM Images was added called the Plant Pathogen and Microbe Culture Images. Images from University of Florida provided the foundation for the collection. Similar to how a host was listed for field images, the media used or test performed was listed. This provided an easy way for the images to be included alongside field images of the pathogen while enabling convenient navigation by the media or test.

While this resource has been valuable, it has been limited and languished as one of the lesser-known resources supporting diagnosticians. We are hoping to revitalize and grow this resource, and we could use your help. If you are willing to share images of media, tests, and pathogens, please consider uploading them. As a photographer, you retain all rights to the images but allow them to be used for non-commercial uses if the images are cited. If anyone makes a commercial request, those details are forwarded for you to handle as you see fit.
Read More

Resources for Diagnosticians

Contact Sara May (srm183@psu.edu) and Lina Rodriguez Salamanca (lina@iasta.edu) for suggestions to include.

Diagnostic Guides

Highlighting Coleus issue in eGRO: Nutritional disorders , Physiological disorders, Coleus diseases, Coleus pests. Older articles: Coleus and basil downy mildew, Coleus lower foliage dark, angular, leaf spots, INSV on coleus, Coleus downy mildew update, Coleus: Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus (INSV), Coleus stock plants: Don't let viruses, foliar nematodes or downy mildew ruin your crop, White mold (Sclerotinia) on coleus

Pathogens

Detection of Pythium spp. in golf course irrigation systems https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-02-21-0399-RE

Peer Review Highlights

Genomic approaches to plant-pathogen epidemiology and diagnostics https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-020620-121736

Localization and mechanical transmission of tomato brown rugose fruit virus in tomato seeds https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-11-20-2413-RE

Research advances in potyviruses: from the laboratory bench to the field https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-020620-114550

Methods and Protocols

Development of a real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for Stromatinia cepivora in response to an outbreak in Northern Idaho https://doi.org/10.1094/PHP-04-21-0075-RS

Development of a multiplex TaqMan qPCR targeting unique genomic regions for the specific and sensitive detection of Pectobacterium species and P. parmentieri https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.15447

Comparison of three commercial DNA extraction kits for the enhancement of PCR assay sensitivity for Xanthomonas euvesicatoria pv. allii https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.15280

A SYBR Green qPCR Method for detecting and quantifying spores of Colletotrichum acutatum and C. gloeosporioides species complexes causing ripe rot of grape https://doi.org/10.1094/PHP-07-21-0101-RS

Detection and identification of a ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ species from ash tree infesting psyllids https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-02-21-0060-SC

LAMP assay for distinguishing Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium commune in lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) rhizomes https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-21-1223-RE

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for rapid detection of Phoma macdonaldii, the causal agent of sunflower black stem https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-21-1409-RE

Notable First Reports

Read More

The Plant Puzzler

The Plant Puzzler is a quarterly contest featuring weird plant problems that are tricky or that may defy diagnosis. The goal is to share some of the crazy things we have seen over the years, to have a little fun, and perhaps to learn something new. We invite you to participate in solving the puzzler and/or to submit your own puzzlers for publication. Prizes will be awarded for the most correct answer, the most creative answer, and for new puzzler submissions that are selected for publication in future issues of The Communicator. More details can be found online at https://www.npdn.org/public/npdn_communicator

A golf course superintendent is getting ready for an upcoming tournament at the golf course she manages. She has been so busy with the behind-the-scenes preparations that she has not been out on the greens for over a week. When she visits one of the greens the Monday before the tournament, she discovers, to her dismay, the symptoms shown in the picture above. What do you think caused the symptoms shown? (Submitted by Mary Ann Hansen – SPDN)

Explain the logic underlying your answer or brush off your creative writing skills and spin a fun and creative explanation. Winners will be notified by email. Answers and winners will be revealed in the March edition of The Communicator.

Email your answer to newsletter_editor@npdn.org by Feb. 28, 2022.

Announcements

Beltsville Workshops Completely Virtual in 2022

All 2022 Beltsville workshops will only be offered virtually. There will be no in-person workshops. View the complete announcement including schedule changes online. The schedule for the following three workshops has not changed:

Bioinformatics Module SS – Feb. 22-24, 2022
Bioinformatics Module HTS – Feb. 28-March 2, 2022
Potato Wart – March 29-30

Contact Barb Riker or Karen Snover-Clift with any questions.

The GPDN webinar series will be hosted via Zoom on Wednesdays from February 3 through March 23, 2022. Details on the series and instructions on how to register are available on the 2022 GPDN Webinar Series webpage
The series will feature speakers from universities and government agencies across the country. Topics include invasive pests, modeling, and updates on some diseases. These topics are relevant to pest management specialists and diagnosticians in plant pathology, entomology, and weed science.

Request for Photos of Abiotic Problems

Melodie Putnam and Raj Singh are soliciting images of abiotic problems for use in a session at the NPDN national meeting. They need images and information by March 30. More details are available online at https://www.npdn.org/wanted-your-best-photos-abiotic-problems

Guest editors Kitty Cardwell, Carrie Harmon, Poonam Sharma, and James Stack are calling for papers for the PhytoFrontiers^TM Focus Issue: Diagnostic Assay Development and Validation: The Science of Getting it Right.

This Focus issue intends to enhance the quality of diagnostic assays and to increase the confidence in their use for the protection of U.S. agricultural, horticultural, and natural landscapes. Details can be found online.

The submission deadline is March 30, 2022. Authors are encouraged to read the Information for Authors before submitting.

PhytoFrontiers is an open access journal with publication fees and a discount for APS members.

Employment Opportunities

Job announcements can be posted and viewed online at https://www.npdn.org/public/job-board

Instructor and Plant Disease Manager at Virginia Tech

The School of Plant and Environmental Sciences (SPES) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Virginia Tech seeks to fill an instructor position (12-month) that will serve as manager of the plant disease clinic and teach classes in plant pathology. The full job description is available at: https://careers.pageuppeople.com/968/cw/en-us/job/519003/instructor-and-plant-disease-clinic-manager

Submissions and Subscriptions

The deadline for publication is the last day of the preceding month. Submission and subscription details can be found here.