Story Bank Pests & Diseases

• Kansas
• Microbiomes
• Pests & Diseases

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...

• Michigan
• Animal Sciences
• Pests & Diseases

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...

• Florida
• Plant Sciences
• Pests & Diseases

The Florida blueberry industry got its start in the 1970s when the University of Florida (UF) Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences developed the first Southern Highbush blueberry...

• Georgia
• Pests & Diseases

The boll weevil is a pest that devastates cotton plants by feeding on its buds and flowers. Native to Central Mexico, the beetle spread throughout the southwest by the 1920s and nearly...

• California
• Genomics
• Data Analytics

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...

• Florida
• Plant Sciences
• Pests & Diseases

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,...

• Pennsylvania
• Pests & Diseases
• Plant Sciences

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...

• Ohio
• Animal Sciences
• Pests & Diseases

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...

• Pennsylvania
• Pests & Diseases

Insect pollinators are essential to U.S. growers of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Honey bees are the premier managed pollinators of most crops, accounting for $11.7 billion of the...

• Texas
• Animal Sciences
• Genomics

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...

• Virginia
• Plant Sciences
• Genomics

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...

• Iowa
• Genomics
• Animal Sciences

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...

• Kansas
• Pests & Diseases
• Plant Sciences

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....

• Kansas
• Animal Sciences
• Genomics

Through cutting-edge genome editing, scientists are working to help the swine (pig) industry produce healthier, more resilient animals. Genome editors are enzymes that allow scientists to...

• Kansas
• Animal Sciences
• Pests & Diseases

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...

• Georgia
• Animal Sciences
• Plant Sciences

The barber pole worm poses a great threat to the small ruminant (sheep and goat) industry. These harmful miniature predators cause irreversible damage to sheep and goats, including...

• Florida
• Genomics
• USDA AFRI

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.

• Iowa
• Genomics
• Pests & Diseases

The total value of the U.S. soybean crop was $41 billion in 2016 according to the American Soybean Association. Soybean is heavily impacted by root and stem rot diseases caused by...

• Texas
• Animal Sciences
• Pests & Diseases

The leading natural cause of death in beef and dairy cattle is Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD), a combination of viral and bacterial infections. The disease causes losses of more than a...

• Texas
• Animal Sciences
• Pests & Diseases

A highly successful example of public research for animal health began in the 1950s in the fight to eradicate the New World Screwworm. The screwworm is a maggot that feeds off the flesh...

• Florida
• Genomics
• Pests & Diseases

The Florida citrus industry, directly and indirectly, generates approximately 45,000 full-time jobs with a total economic impact of approximately $8.6 billion per year in the state....

• North Carolina
• Genomics
• Pests & Diseases

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...