CRC for Plant Biosecurity - sphds

CRC40180: SPHDS Ratification of Protocol for Potyviruses

CRICHTONA — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:45:27 +0000

Program

SPHDS – leading the nation’s diagnosis of plant pests

VANMEURSA — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 05:12:05 +0000

In a world where the challenges from plant pests are continually changing, the ability to rapidly, robustly and cost-effectively identify a plant pest is more important than ever. Charged with making sure that Australia can meet these challenges, the Sub-Committee on Plant Health Diagnostics Standards (SPHDS) is improving Australia’s diagnostic capabilities by leading the national effort into developing sustainable, effective and high quality diagnostics.

A sub-committee formed under Australia’s Plant Health Committee (PHC), SPHDS is made up of representatives from state and federal agricultural agencies as well as other organisations that maintain an interest in plant pest diagnostics – such as the CRCNPB and Plant Health Australia. By bringing together all of these organisations, SPHDS uses the nation’s best and brightest plant diagnosticians to tackle plant pest diagnostic problems facing Australia.

Current chair of SPHDS and the Program Leader for the CRCNPB’s Impact Management Program, Ms Jane Moran, says that ‘SPHDS is an integral part of our national defence against plant pests. Without the ability to make rapid, robust and effective diagnoses, our ability to combat a potentially devastating incursion is greatly reduced.’

In order to undertake this task, SPHDS is currently divided into four working groups – the Diagnostics Standards Working Group, the Accreditation, Expertise and Resources Working Group, the Training Working Group and the National Diagnostic Strategy Working Group. Overarching these is the Coodinator’s Group that sets the direction and priorities for the three working groups and has the overall responsibility of providing governance of SPHDS. Under this structure, SPHDS ensures that it covers all areas affecting the national diagnostic capability, particularly the areas that allow for the development of new national diagnostic protocols.

The process for approving a national diagnostic protocol is very specific and requires considerable time and resources. Once a particular diagnostic protocol has been identified as a priority by SPHDS, the sub-committee calls for scholarship applications for travel to an overseas centre of excellence to develop the protocol. SPHDS then selects suitable applicants who travel to these international laboratories and then draft a protocol that adheres to strict standards for consideration by SPHDS. SPHDS then arranges for an independent laboratory to assess the test protocols to see if the methods are complete and easy to follow. SPHDS also arranges for the protocol to be peer reviewed by an expert in the field. The results of these activities are then assessed by SPHDS and any appropriate changes are made. Once all of these stages have been successfully completed, the diagnostic protocol is submitted to PHC for endorsement as the national standard.

Ms Moran explains that the process for recommending a diagnostic protocol for endorsement by PHC is intentionally rigorous ‘to provide confidence for decision makers in the accuracy of a diagnosis. An accurate diagnosis allows state and federal agencies to rapidly rollout contingency plans in the case on an incursion.’

The CRCNPB works closely with SPHDS to ensure our advances in diagnostic techniques and technology are on the frontline in the fight against plant pest threats. For example, our enhanced diagnostic for Karnal bunt (CRC20004: Karnal Bunt) is currently going through the SPHDS approval process, after undertaking successful international trials during the course of the project. Once approved and endorsed, the diagnostic will become the national standard in identifying this damaging pest of grain.

Ms Moran highlights the Plant Biosecurity Toolbox (PBT), hosted on the PaDIL website, as one of the CRCNPB’s most important contributions to the national diagnostic capability.

‘The PBT is really the first dedicated resource in Australia that takes diagnostic data off laboratory shelves and puts it into a forum that is usable, accessible and invaluable to plant diagnosticians. It has changed the way that SPHDS operates as well, as all new protocols are uploaded to the PBT.’

The CRCNPB is helping in the fight against plant pests by building a strong and productive relationship with SPHDS. With Diagnostics Program Leader Dr Deb Hailstones as our SPHDS representative, and Ms Moran as the Chair, our continued collaboration means our research will help ensure that SPHDS can continue to provide Australia an effective defence from plant pests through rapid, robust and cost-effective diagnostics.

Content supplied by: Cain Roberts and Jane Moran

Diagnosing karnal bunt

VANMEURSA — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:12:10 +0000

Karnal bunt is disease of wheat caused by the fungus Tilletia indica and was first discovered in northern India in 1930. It has since spread to other parts of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Iraq, Iran, Mexico, South Africa and southern and eastern parts of the United States.

It is currently absent from Australia; featuring as a category two pest in the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed. Preferring cool and humid conditions, our climate would be suitable for it to spread if it became established here, which would have a major economic impact on our wheat industry and exports.

Stringent quarantine regulations on the imports of new wheat varieties or breeding lines for sowing, as well as enforcing cleanliness of imported agricultural machinery, helps to manage the risk of karnal bunt entering the country.

For growers, it’s difficult to detect karnal bunt in the field. Only a few seeds on each head are attacked by the disease. The symptoms became more evident during processing when the grain is replaced with powdery dark spores that emit a strong and fishy odour.

To help Australia respond efficiently to a suspected incursion of karnal bunt, Dr Mui-Keng Tan from Industry & Investment New South Wales and her project team have recently completed over three years of research which will enable quick and accurate diagnosis in the laboratory. The new protocol is currently with the Sub-Committee of Plant Health Diagnostic Standards (SPHDS) for validation, and hopefully endorsement as an accepted international diagnostic standard.

One of the project’s objectives was to incorporate the most sensitive and appropriate tool in the enhanced protocol. Mui-Keng says, “the endorsement of the tool by SPHDS will reflect its recognition of the value of biotechnology advancement in plant diagnosis which is so evident in medical and veterinary diagnosis”.

Completing the project hasn’t always been easy sailing. Mui-Keng’s team faced many hurdles along the way, including the first and most challenging part of the project which was to develop a robust protocol that would withstand the rigours of an international ring test. Mui-Keng and the team also found it difficult geographically. Working on CRC projects, often means project team members are located in different states. In this case, Mui-Keng was in New South Wales and working with Ms Dominie Wright based in Perth at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia. To overcome this obstacle the team used every opportunity (CRC Science Exchange 2007, National Workshop March 2008 at EMAI, overseas training workshops August 2008 in UK and Italy) to discuss and plan, particularly for the international ring test.

The international ring test had to fit in with the work schedules of participating laboratories. Datelines for the completion of the ring test had to be moved a couple of times, giving the project team a feeling of uncertainty about the outcome as the project approached its due date. As the results slowly filtered in, Mui-Keng was pleased to see the results from the laboratories that had undertaken training in the protocol in contrast to those that had not. Mui-Keng was also very happy with the way the project team worked stating that the project team were able to overcome their challenges with sheer hard work and patience.

When undertaking a complex scientific project, there are also rewards. Mui-Keng found the most gratifying part of her project was the very kind and generous contribution of spore materials and knowledge from scientists working on bunt in Australia and overseas. She believes this generosity was critical to the success of the project. These scientists include Dr Indu Sharma, Dr Roger Shivas, Dr Michael Priest, Mr Yi Jianping, Dr John Brennan, Dr Gordon Murray, Dr L Carris, Kerrie Wratten, Dr John McDonald and Dr S Christiansen. Mui-Keng also gives high praise to the technical officer in the project, Ms Aida Ghalayini, who she says was a pleasure and delight to work with.

Mui-Keng was extremely relieved and very happy when the final report was submitted to the CRC. She was very pleased that the objectives of the project had been achieved. She also said the sense of elation far exceeded the many moments of frustration during the course of the project.

So what’s next for Mui-Keng now that she’s successfully completed her project with the CRC? She is exploring projects in wheat research and currently pursuing support for the innovative application of molecular technology to study the molecular basis (at the gene level) of phenotype variation for two wheat traits. Everyone at the CRC wishes her and the project team the best of luck with their future research activities, and hopes they have similar successful outcomes.

Subcommittee on Plant Health Diagnostic Standards

VANMEURSA — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:07:11 +0000

The Subcommittee on Plant Health Diagnostic Standards (SPHDS) was established in 2005, as a subcommittee of Australia’s Plant Health Committee (PHC). Its primary goal was to ‘establish, implement and monitor professional and technical standards within plant health diagnostic laboratories through the development and maintenance of an accreditation system and national diagnostic protocols’. This is all part of a push to facilitate activities that will enhance Australia’s plant biosecurity.

SPHDS has a number of working groups that address issues critical to the ongoing sustainability of the Australian diagnostic system. SPHDS role expanded in 2008 with the formation of a national diagnostic strategy working group who are developing a strategy for inclusion in the National Plant Health Strategy which is currently being developed by Plant Health Australia. More recently SPHDS has undertaken a more active role in the training of diagnosticians through its newly formed training working group.

At the recent Science Exchange, members of SPHDS met with our PhD students to explain the purpose of SPHDS and how it will assist in further developing the outcomes of PhD students work to inform national diagnostic standards. The members from SPHDS included Jane Moran (Chair of SPHDS and CRC program leader), Deb Hailstones (CRC representative on SPHDS and CRC program leader), Barbara Hall (Chair of the SPHDS working group on diagnostic standards and CRC project leader) and Suzy Bently (Chair of the SPHDS working group on the national diagnostic strategy). The CRC work closely with SPHDS and Kirsty Bayliss (CRC program leader) has recently joined the newly formed SPHDS training working group.

SPHDS members at the Science Exchange also took the opportunity to explain the obligations we all have as plant health researchers to report new findings to their states biosecurity agencies as soon as they suspect something unusual.

More information about SPHDS can be found on the SPHDS website www.daff.gov.au/animal-plant-health/plant/committees/sphds