NPDN NewsVolume 11 Issue 6, June 2016

NPDN NATIONAL MEETING WORKSHOPS Karen Rane, UMD Plant Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Maryland

Issue Highlights• New PPQ webpage on blackleg disease in potatoes• STAR-D to offer a second Document Round-Up workshop• IT/Diagnosticians meeting scheduled for September• Primer design workshop to be held at OSU• Regional news: OWB deemed an isolated regulatory incident

Diagnosticians are always on the look-out for ways to sharpen our skills and learn new techniques.

In that spirit, three diagnostic workshops were held following the NPDN National Meeting on March 12, 2016 at the University of Maryland College Park campus. Dr. Megan Romberg, USDA-APHIS National Mycologist conducted a hands-on session entitled “Morphological Identification of Microfungi—a

Primer”. Participants worked with fungi on naturally infected plant samples, examining the morphology of sexual and asexual structures, conidiogenous cell structures and other characteristics critical for fungal

identification. A review of morphological classification, nomenclature, and websites useful for mycological identification were also presented.

A workshop on plant virus diagnostics was presented by Drs. Dimitre Mollov, John Hammond and Ramon Jordan, virologists with USDA-ARS. Topics included an overview of virus diagnostic techniques, including serological assays, bioassays with indicator plants, as well as molecular techniques. Strengths and potential weaknesses of each type of assay were discussed, helping diagnosticians determine which procedures and assays could be adapted to their own laboratories.

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Megan Romberg, USDA-APHIS National Mycologist, instructing the fungal workshop group.

continued on page 2...

APHIS classifies the potato blackleg pathogen, Dickeya dianthicola, as a non-reportable/non-actionable pathogen. page 2

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NPDN NewsNational News

Dr. Robert Rabaglia, National Entomologist with the US Forest Service, conducted the third workshop, entitled “Identification of Common and Important Bark and Ambrosia Beetles”. In this session, participants learned about the impact of several important native and exotic bark beetle species, as well as tips for using keys for morphological identification. Each participant received a reference collection of major bark and ambrosia beetle pests to take back to their home laboratories.

Based on the level of excitement and positive comments heard throughout the day, the workshops were well

received, and considered a worthwhile endeavor by those who could attend. All of the instructors have graciously allowed their workshop materials to be posted on the NPDN National Meeting website:

http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/npdn/workshops.html

Many thanks to the instructors for their generosity in sharing their expertise. Thanks also go to the NPDN Associated Programs Committee members who helped with local arrangements, logistics and on-site assistance for the workshops.

New PPQ webpage with regulatory and diagnostic information on blackleg disease in potatoes

The following documents are available on the USDA’s webpage for Dickeya. The webpage can be accessed at www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/plant-pest-and-disease-programs/pests-and-diseases/sa_nematode/sa_potato/ct_dickeya

• Best Management Practices for Prevention and Control of Blackleg Disease in Potatoes (issued in 2015)

• National Potato Council Seed Certification Sub-Committee Protocol for Detection of Dickeya in Potato Tubers, Stems, or Irrigation Water (June 7, 2016 version)

• USDA-APHIS-PPQ Guidelines for Submitting Domestically Detected Suspect Dickeya spp. Samples from Potato for Diagnostic Testing by the

Center for Plant Health Science and Technology Laboratory (June 24, 2016 version)

• Diagnostics of Dickeya dianthicola

• SPRO letter regarding classification of the potato blackleg pathogen, Dickeya dianthicola (issued June 24, 2016)

Excerpt from SPRO letter dated June 24, 2016Effective May 17, 2016, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) classified the potato blackleg pathogen Dickeya dianthicola as a non-reportable/non-actionable pathogen. APHIS’ decision to classify D. dianthicola is based on the results of recent confirmatory diagnostic testing and historic reports in literature of D. dianthicola detections that show the pathogen is likely established in the United States.

If D. dianthicola is detected at a port of entry, no action will be taken. Should D. dianthicola be detected in the United States, APHIS will not conduct survey, regulatory, or control activities. APHIS will continue to confirm the identification of first-time reports of D. dianthicola samples from states that have not already submitted samples to PPQ. In addition, APHIS is committed to coordinating with the potato industry, state and research community to implement best management practices to effectively manage the disease.

This is an excerpt from the letter dated June 24, 2016. The full letter can be accessed from the USDA’s webpage on Dickeya at the url listed above.

Vivaldi potato confirmed to have blackleg disease.

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STAR-D offers a second Document Round-Up workshop…DRU2Karen Snover-Clift and Dawn Dailey O’Brien, NEPDN, Cornell

University

Preparation and planning for the second Document Round-Up, what

we are calling the “STAR-D Document Round-Up 2” or “DRU2”, is well underway. The workshop will be offered to our NPDN membership and collaborators on November 15–17, 2016 at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The workshop will provide three days of focused work on creating the STAR-D documentation with time periods for discussions and general sharing of knowledge. Because the agenda is focused on document creation, participants can choose to stay for one, two or all three days.

Similar to the first workshop, we will arrange for numerous instructors to be present to help answer individual questions during the document creation process. Differing from the first workshop, the DRU2 session has a very simplistic agenda, no presentations and alternating between time for work on specific lab documents and time for group discussions of questions that arise while working on the documents. Each day participants will choose what they want to work on, they can start a bunch of documents or they can focus on getting every last “i” dotted and “t” crossed on one document at a time. As questions arise during the workshop, they will be helped by an experienced diagnostician. If the trainers think the question and answer would be beneficial for all to hear, it will be

noted and discussed during one of the three discussion periods each day. See the tentative agenda.

Participants should bring a laptop computer to the session (we may have a few available for use if you are not able to bring your own computer) and any QMS documents you have created. No documents are necessary to participant in the workshop. If you received a thumb drive containing the STAR-D document templates and the NPDN Requirements and Standard at the first session, you should bring that with you. We will make up new ones for new participants.

Please mark your calendars if you are interested in attending and contact Dawn Dailey O’Brien at ddo1@cornell.edu to be placed on the participant listing. We will provide the participants with more information for making your travel arrangements in the coming weeks.

Tentative agenda for each day: 8:00am–10:00am: Lab specific document creation. Individuals work on their lab documents10:30am–11:00am: Discussion session. Sharing of questions & answers with all participants11:00am–Noon: Lab specific document creation. LUNCH1:00pm–1:30pm: Discussion session 1:30pm–3:30pm: Lab specific document creation3:30pm–4:30pm: Discussion sessionWrap up *Of course we will stick a few breaks in the agenda

DIAGNOSTICS

RECOMMENDED REVIEW

The journal Fungal Diversity published a review of books on fungi and mycology in the November 2014, Volume 69, Issue 1 (pp 147–170).

While the full review is not available online you may be able to access it through your university library system (provided they subscribe to the journal).

Interested in a preview? An excerpt of the review can be found on Springer Link’s website at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13225-014-0311-8.

NPDN NewsDiagnostics

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Ninth NPDN IT/Diagnosticians meeting to be held September 20–22, 2016Mike Hill and Eileen Luke, CERIS, Purdue University

With overwhelmingly positive response and feedback from last year’s NPDN IT/Diagnosticians meeting in October 2015, CERIS will again host the meeting at Purdue University Tuesday, September 20 through Thursday, September 22, 2016. Each region will be sending diagnosticians to attend and there will be IT representation from the Lab Information Management Systems (LIMS) and NPDN National Repository as well.

The meeting details such as hotel and travel arrangements are still being finalized. The agenda, which is being drafted by the associate directors, will focus on confidence levels, resolutions for critical IT issues affecting the diagnosticians and the Lab Information Management Systems (LIMS). Two of the three days will focus on overall NPDN issues with one full day of group work dedicated to the various LIMS systems. Please stay tuned to future newsletters for additional details on the upcoming 9th

IT/Diagnosticians meeting. If you have any questions, please contact your regional staff, Eileen Luke (765) 494-6613, or Mike Hill (765) 494-9854.

EDUCATION & TRAININGPrimer design workshop to be held at Oklahoma State University!Karen Snover-Clift and Tricia Allen, Cornell University

A few weeks ago, we announced that the NPDN will coordinate a primer design workshop for our members and colleagues. Dr. Francisco Ochoa Corona will provide the instruction for the “Web based Primer Design for PCR based Detection and Diagnostics of Phytopathogens Workshop”. The training will be held on October 4–6, 2016 on the Oklahoma State University

campus in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It will provide, in a very easy and friendly way, access to essential information, concepts and definitions related to nucleic acids and important thermodynamic parameters required for primer design of End Point (standard), real time PCR and isothermal DNA amplification assays, which are required for successful development of PCR based diagnostics worldwide. A tentative agenda is available on the NPDN website, diagnostics program area committee page, under the “announcements” section.

NPDN NewsEducation & Training

REGIONAL NEWS

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No molecular background is required for the workshop but it helps. Learning primer design through web-interface software will improve the participant’s proficiency in PCR applications, and will ultimately make them more efficient, productive and competitive. The workshop has only 20 spaces available and half of

these spots are already claimed so if you are interested, please contact Tricia Allen at tra42@cornell.edu as soon as possible. We are in the process of making arrangements with a hotel on campus and will share the specifics of travel planning with the participants in the next few weeks.

Old World bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) in Florida deemed an isolated regulatory incidentUSDA-APHIS Pests and Diseases

In late June and early July 2015, APHIS confirmed the detection of three adult male Old World bollworms (OWB) in the Bradenton area of Manatee County, Florida. These were the first detections of OWB in the continental United States.

Following these initial detections, APHIS and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) extensively surveyed throughout the state to determine the extent of this incursion…

There were no additional detections of OWB in Florida after one complete year of continuous and intensive survey efforts. Therefore, APHIS and FDACS have determined that this OWB incursion was an isolated regulatory incident. Although APHIS and FDACS consider this a transient event, OWB remains a pest of concern for Florida and the United States and will continue to be a target in state and national survey efforts.

This is an excerpt from a letter dated June 24, 2016. The full letter can be accessed from the USDA’s webpage on Old World bollworm at the following url: www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/plant-pest-and-disease-programs/pests-and-diseases/old-world-bollworm

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Images from top: adult Helicoverpa armigera (left) and Heliothis virescens (right); larvae of Helicoverpa armigera, Italy, mid to late instar, dorsal view and lateral view.

Rachel McCarthy, EditorNPDN, Training and Education Coordinator

Cornell University

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

www.npdn.org

CONTRIBUTEShare Tips and News with Your ColleaguesRecently write an article for a trade journal? Do you have a tip, announcement, regional news or network update you would like to include in the NPDN News? Email Rachel McCarthy at rachel.mccarthy@cornell.edu

6Volume 11 Issue 6

UPCOMING EVENTS

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

www.bugwood.org

Lobed hyphopodia and dark mycelia in root

tissue. Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis

on 'Fireworks' crimson fountain grass.

Elizabeth Bush, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Bugwood.org

MeetingsJuly 30–August 3, 2016APS Annual meetingTampa, FL

July 31–August 4, 2016National Plant Board 2016 Annual MeetingWilmington, DE

September 25–30, 20162016 XXV International Congress of EntomologyOrlando, FL

October 24–27, 201620th Ornamental Workshop on Diseases and InsectsHendersonville, NC

CONNECT