As a result of the 9-11-01 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon, Congress created a new U.S. Department of Homeland Security. With heightened awareness and concern for potential acts of bioterrorism directed at the U.S. Food and Agricultural System, the Department of Homeland Security provided funds for USDA/CSREES to develop a National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN),  in which the land grant plant diagnostic laboratories comprised the backbone of the system. The nation was divided into five regions, with a regional center designated for each of the five regions. The P&PDL, as part of the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network (NCPDN) region has been working with their counterparts at other land grant institutions to prepare against plant diseases and pests that might pose a threat to American agriculture. Part of this response includes providing training protocols for threat pathogens for the “first detectors”. First detectors typically include individuals such as county extension educators, growers, crop consultants and regulatory field inspectors. Once trained, first detectors will be on the look out for unusual or new diseases to submit to the diagnostic laboratories. This will greatly reduce the time between introduction and detection and, subsequently remediation.

In light of this national initiative, the P&PDL provided a 2003 training session to ANR educators on Homeland Security and the threat of bioterrorist attacks on agriculture. The training included information on the NPDN, the NCPDN, Soybean Rust, and how the newly formed National Plant Diagnostic Network will help provide real-time diagnostics and training opportunities through the Plant Diagnostic Information Service (PDIS).

A poster display on these topics was also presented at the 2003 Annual Extension Conference.

The staff of the Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab, along with other cooperating Extension Specialists in the Departments of Botany and Plant Pathology, Entomology, Horticulture and Forestry diagnosed a total of 1872 samples in 2003 (Table 1).

Of the 1872 sample submissions to the P&PDL, 1819 were submitted as physical samples, 7 were submitted as digital images accompanied by physical samples and 46 were submitted strictly as electronic submissions of digital images via a standard web-based method made available in 2003 to all Indiana educators as well as the general public.

Of the 53 total electronic ‘samples’ submitted, 36 digital images were submitted by County Extension Educators for various clientele while 17 were submitted directly by the general public (e.g. homeowners, garden centers, greenhouses, landscapers, dealer/industry reps). Electronic submission of a digital sample to the Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab was assessed the same $11 (in-state) and $22 (out-of-state) charge as a physical sample. There was no additional charge for follow-up physical samples requested by diagnosticians who desired more detail for an accurate identification or problem diagnosis than was provided by the initial digital images submitted.

The majority of samples were received by the P&PDL during the months of July, August and September (Figure 2). Same day service was provided for 5% of the samples received during 2003 and 27% of the samples were completed in three days or less. A total of 49% of the samples received during 2003 were diagnosed within five working days and 77% of all samples received were answered within 10 working days. An extended turn-around time of greater than 10 days (23% of samples) was documented for those samples requiring more extensive culture work and laboratory testing (Figure 1).

The most common commodities submitted to the P&PDL were woody ornamentals (30%), followed by flowers (26%), and agronomic crops (24%). The remaining 20% of samples were distributed among various other commodity groups including turf, vegetables, fruit and problems from homes/buildings. Noninfectious disorders (45%), infectious diseases (41%), and arthropod-related problems (9%) were the most common primary diagnoses in 2003 (Figure 4). Specific commodity related summaries of prevalent problems that occurred in 2003 were provided by Purdue Extension Specialists and Research Associates.

The Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory, serves as the plant disease diagnostic facility for the IDNR and thus the expertise of P&PDL plant disease diagnosticians is an integral part of the regulatory function performed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). The IDNR and the Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory worked together during the outbreak of Ralstonia solanacearum Race 3 Biovar 2 (RsR3B2) in geraniums in February 2003 (January 2004). This pathogen causes southern bacterial wilt in potatoes and other solanaceous crops, and is listed on USDA Agricultural Bioterrorism Act of 2002 Select Agents and Toxins List. The pathogen was unintentionally introduced to numerous greenhouses in the US in 2003 during the routine and normal importation of geranium cuttings from Kenya by a US company. The Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory was the first university diagnostic clinic to detect the pathogen and provide samples to USDA-APHIS for biovar and race determination. The plant disease diagnosticians also contacted Robert Waltz, IDNR State Plant Health Regulatory Officer, to alert him to the situation. As a result, Indiana was among the first states to organize a regulatory response to the Ralstonia outbreak. The P&PDL provided information to the IDNR on symptoms and etiology of the disease to aid the field inspectors in their collection of potentially infected plants. The P&PDL provided testing of 250 samples collected by nursery inspectors, and forwarded samples positive for Ralstonia solanacearum in initial tests to USDA-APHIS for race and biovar determination. Four Indiana greenhouses were found to have infected plants, and the PPDL consulted with IDNR officials in their quarantine and sanitation efforts in those greenhouses. IDNR and PPDL staff also collaborated in formal meetings to assess the Indiana response to the Ralstonia outbreak.

The P&PDL provided disease diagnosis on 149 corn and 31 soybean fields for the IDNR Phytosanitary Certification Program as well as disease diagnosis on 68 corn field samples for entry into the National Agricultural Plant Information System (NAPIS) database.

P&PDL staff members annually participate in a variety of Purdue University sponsored events and educational programs. Some of these events and educational programs in 2003 included Garden Day, Master Gardener Training, Turf and Ornamentals Workshops, Pesticide Applicator Training, and Certified Crop Advisor Training.

Please click here for a complete list of tables and figures related to 2003.