Pests & Diseases

Applying Alternatives: Leveraging the Soil Microbiome to Fight Disease

Charcoal rot is a soilborne disease caused by a fungus (Macrophomina phaseolina) that results in significant crop losses. At Kansas State University, a team of researchers quantified the...

Boosting Heat Stress Tolerance in Turkeys

The perfect deli sandwich starts with optimal living conditions for turkeys everywhere. Temperature stress right before processing turkey directly impacts the quality of turkey meat that...

Creating a Fingerprint Database for Foodborne Pathogens

Dr. Bart Weimer and his team at UC Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, are creating a massive database of genome signatures— collecting the “fingerprints” of 65,000 strains of...

Creating an Early Detection System for Florida’s Diversifying Agriculture Sector

Dr. Carrie Lapaire Harmon’s lab, Florida’s Plant Diagnostic Center, serves as the state’s early detection system. Her lab is equipped to quickly test and diagnose numerous plant diseases,...

Finding Resistance in the Saliva of Crop Pests

When caterpillars attack tomato plants, proteins in the insect saliva disarm the tomato defenses. Dr. Felton and his colleagues have identified another set of proteins in caterpillar...

Helping Chickens Breathe Easier

Chang-Won Lee, PhD, and his colleagues worry about more than the avian flu. They focus expansively on more than a single respiratory disease. While scientists may be able to generate...

Identifying the Genetic Blueprint for Healthier Cattle

Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) is a combination of viral and bacterial cattle infections made worse by the stress of transportation to the feedlot. This project plans to breed enough...

Neutralizing “cousins” of the Irish Potato Famine Pathogen That Destroy Soybeans

Phytophthora sojae is one of the most disruptive pathogens in soybean fields across the U.S. These scientists used information from P. sojae genomes to develop new diagnostic tools and to...

Protecting Pork: Harnessing Genomics to Improve Livestock Resilience

Biosecurity protocols and vaccinations help prevent or reduce disease in pigs, but some animals will still get sick. To address this, Dr. Dekkers and his international team utilized the...

Racing Against the Clock to Beat the Blast Fungus

The rice blast fungus is a feared pathogen, even after genetic research discovered how to introduce resistance in rice plants. Dr. Barbara Valent took on the blast-fungus challenge....

Responding to an Emerging Disease

Farmers in Asia and Europe have struggled with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) outbreaks for decades. Dr. Jason Woodworth and his team first confirmed pig feed as a path of...

Saving Citrus: Using Genetics to Boost Resistance to Citrus Greening

At University of Florida, researchers are working to save Florida’s citrus industry by applying a new gene-editing technique to combat citrus greening disease.

Tracking and Minimizing Foodborne Bacteria With Cutting-edge Technology

Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou is using a new technology known as CRISPR, which dramatically speeds up the editing of bacterial genetics, to examine the pathogen’s DNA and determine its origin...

Story Bank Pests & Diseases