Education in Plant Pathology: Present Status and Future Challenges

MacDonald, James; Allen, Caitilyn; Gadoury, David M.; Jacobi, William R.; Kelemu, Segenet; Moyer, James B.; Murray, T. D.; Ong, Kevin; Pearson, Charles; Sherwood, J. L.; Vidaver, Ann

doi:10.1094/pdis-93-12-1238

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…Exposure through course work is one important means by which students develop a career interest in plant pathology (45). This suggests two obvious strategies for increasing the pool of graduate school applicants: (a) attract more students to plant pathology courses and (b) capture a larger proportion of students enrolled in those courses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Pathology: A Story About Biology

Gordon

Leveau

2010

Annu. Rev. Phytopathol.

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Disease is a universal feature of life for multicellular organisms, and the study of disease has contributed to the establishment of key concepts in the biological sciences. This implies strong connections between plant pathology and basic biology, something that could perhaps be made more apparent to undergraduate students interested in the life sciences. To that end, we present an instructional narrative that begins with a simple question: Why are there diseases? Responses and follow-up questions can facilitate exploration of such topics as the evolution of parasitism, plant adaptations to parasitism, impacts of parasites on native plant communities, and ways in which human intervention can foster the emergence of aggressive plant pathogens. This approach may help to attract students who would not have found their way to plant pathology through traditional pathways. Packaging the narrative as a game may render it more interesting and accessible, particularly to a younger audience.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Pathology: A Story About Biology

Gordon

Leveau

2010

Annu. Rev. Phytopathol.

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“…The result is a public that has a sense of security generated by a plentiful supply of safe and healthy food in stores, but with a limited appreciation for agriculture's role in society. The limited contact that people have with agriculture also means that fewer persons pursue careers within the agro-industry, food animal medicine or plant pathology (Dunning et al, 2009;Gullino, 2009;Kelly, 2005;MacDonald et al, 2009). If this leads to job vacancies, it could add to a country´s vulnerability to biohazards and agroterrorism.…”

Section: Changing Attitudes Towards Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This emphasizes the need to maintain high levels in education and regular training of personnel. Education in fundamental elements, such as in-field or on-farm disease diagnosis, pathogen biology and disease epidemiology, should include the ability to handle exotic diseases, disasters and agroterrorism (Chomel & Marano, 2009;Dunning et al, 2009;Fletcher et al, 2020;Kelly, 2005;MacDonald et al, 2009;Mackelprang & Friedman, 2021).…”

Section: Final Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing biohazards to food security in primary production

et al. 2022

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This review addresses ways to prepare for and to mitigate effects of biohazards on primary production of crops and livestock. These biohazards can be natural or intentional introductions of pathogens, and they can cause major economic damage to farmers, the agricultural industry, society, and international trade. Agroterrorism is the intentional introduction of animal or plant pathogens into agricultural production systems with the intention to cause socioeconomic harm and generate public fear. Although few acts of agroterrorism are reported, the threat of agroterrorism in Europe is real. New concerns about threats arise from the rapid advancements in biotechnology and emerging technologies. FORSA, an analytical framework for risk and vulnerability analysis, was used to review how to prepare for and mitigate the possible effects of natural or intentional biohazards in agricultural production. Analyzing the effects of a biohazard event involves multiple scientific disciplines. A comprehensive analysis of biohazards therefore requires a systems approach. The preparedness and ability to manage events are strengthened by bolstered farm biosecurity, increased monitoring and laboratory capacity, improved inter-agency communication and resource allocation. The focus of this review is on Europe, but the insights gained have worldwide applications. The analytical framework used here is compared to other frameworks. With climate change, Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, the supply chains are challenged, and we foresee increasing food prices associated with social tensions. Our food supply chain becomes more fragile with more unknowns, thereby increasing the needs for risk and vulnerability analyses, of which FORSA is one example.

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“…• Adding network theory to the traditional plant epidemiology and botanical curriculum (17,34,72,130).…”

Section: Future Challenges In Plant Network Epidemiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Networks in Plant Epidemiology: From Genes to Landscapes, Countries, and Continents

Moslonka‐Lefebvre¹,

Finley²,

Dorigatti³

et al. 2011

Phytopathology®

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Networks are sets of nodes connected by links in various ways (Box 1). Although the properties of random networks have already been systematically investigated in the 1960s, a growing body of literature is now using networks in a range of ecological applications, including the study and management of human, animal, and plant diseases (29,49,58,80,131) (Fig. 1). Given the generality and flexibility of the approach, network representations can be used at a variety of levels in plant pathology, from gene expression during host-pathogen interactions, to the development of plant epidemics among fields, farms, and landscapes and to trade movement of plants infected by pathogens or infested by insects among regions and countries.Network structure has profound effects on the dynamics of an epidemic within a population (51,61,127). In today's globally connected world, social and transportation networks play a crucial role in the spread of human infectious diseases (21,53,83). A network approach provides insights into the transmission of infectious diseases also in animals more generally (40,45,78,137). Although there is an increasing interdisciplinary application of networks in epidemiology, relatively little attention has been paid to these analytical approaches in plant sciences. Hence the need for this review, which aims to summarize recent progress in this rapidly developing field and to highlight research challenges specific to plant pathology.In today's plant pathology, as in other fields, there is a need for integrating investigations at the molecular, mycelium, plant, regional and international scale (9,48,102,111,118,120,132). Networks can provide such a unifying framework. They can be (i) perceived at an abstract level (e.g., fungal species occurring on the same plant species host), (ii) materialized by a physical structure (e.g., the root system of plant individuals connected by mycorrhiza, or vice versa), and (iii) underlying flows of energy, matter or information (e.g., the exchanges of knowledge, equipment and money among farmers, plant health consultants, researchers and phytopharmaceutical companies). There is increasing use of networks in ecology and epidemiology, but still relatively little application in phytopathology. Networks are sets of elements (nodes) connected in various ways by links (edges). Network analysis aims to understand system dynamics and outcomes in relation to network characteristics. Many existing natural, social, and technological networks have been shown to have small-world (local connectivity with short-cuts) and scale-free (presence of superconnected nodes) properties. In this review, we discuss how network concepts can be applied in plant pathology from the molecular to the landscape and global level. Wherever disease spread occurs not just because of passive/natural dispersion but also due to artificial movements, it makes sense to superimpose realistic models of the trade in plants on spatially explicit models of epidemic development. We provide an example of an emerging pat...

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Education in Plant Pathology: Present Status and Future Challenges

Cited by 10 publications

References 13 publications

Plant Pathology: A Story About Biology

Plant Pathology: A Story About Biology

Addressing biohazards to food security in primary production

Networks in Plant Epidemiology: From Genes to Landscapes, Countries, and Continents

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