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Airborne diseases could be dangerous to wheat
Wheat stem rust has begun to spread from Uganda to Iran, could be devastating to U.S.
Samantha Blann
Issue date: 4/8/09 Section: News
A recent study has found that airborne diseases can potentially spread more quickly than previously expected. This recent finding could mean potential harm for humans and plants.
Christopher Mundt, Kathryn Sackett, LaRae Wallace, Joseph Dudley and Christina Cowger conducted the study. Contributors to the recent research include Oregon State, North Carolina State University, the Science Applications International Corp. and the University of Alaska. The research discovered new facts about disease mobility.
The study explains how the West Nile Virus spread so quickly through the United States and how the avian bird flu spread so rapidly as well. Researchers also found a logistic model of temporal diseases to assume how they spread.
Using stripe rust of wheat as a model for other pathogens, the researchers learned more about plant disease resistance and mobility.
The results of the study suggest a concern for a new variant of wheat stem rust, known as Ug99, which originated in Uganda in 1999.
Stem rust has been a limiting factor of wheat for many years, but the new variant could prove to be devastating. The disease has already spread to Iran and could have the potential to attack 75 percent of the world's wheat.
"Its only a matter of time before it hits the United States," said professor of crop and soil science Jim Peterson. "We have been trying to raise awareness in the United States [about the disease]."
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave a $27 million grant to launch a global partnership to focus on developing an improved stem rust resistant wheat variant.
"This is something people are very concerned about," Mundt said. "Considering how many people depend on wheat, this could be a very serious problem if not taken care of."
Mundt is concerned about countries that primarily depend on wheat as one of their major food sources.
"The vulnerability of the food supply caught a lot of people by surprise," Peterson said.
There is no knowledge of how serious the disease could be for global wheat production in terms of crop loss.
"These things are hard to predict," Mundt said. "It's one of those things where we never know until it happens."
"We are playing a game to keep ahead of the disease," Peterson said. "Right now we are losing."
Peterson said there is a need for research tools and funding to try to get ahead of the disease. Due to recent success by scientists to resist other pathogens, funding has declined significantly.
"The concern now is Pakistan and India, which are major wheat producers," Peterson said.
Samantha Blann, staff writer
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
Christopher Mundt, Kathryn Sackett, LaRae Wallace, Joseph Dudley and Christina Cowger conducted the study. Contributors to the recent research include Oregon State, North Carolina State University, the Science Applications International Corp. and the University of Alaska. The research discovered new facts about disease mobility.
The study explains how the West Nile Virus spread so quickly through the United States and how the avian bird flu spread so rapidly as well. Researchers also found a logistic model of temporal diseases to assume how they spread.
Using stripe rust of wheat as a model for other pathogens, the researchers learned more about plant disease resistance and mobility.
The results of the study suggest a concern for a new variant of wheat stem rust, known as Ug99, which originated in Uganda in 1999.
Stem rust has been a limiting factor of wheat for many years, but the new variant could prove to be devastating. The disease has already spread to Iran and could have the potential to attack 75 percent of the world's wheat.
"Its only a matter of time before it hits the United States," said professor of crop and soil science Jim Peterson. "We have been trying to raise awareness in the United States [about the disease]."
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave a $27 million grant to launch a global partnership to focus on developing an improved stem rust resistant wheat variant.
"This is something people are very concerned about," Mundt said. "Considering how many people depend on wheat, this could be a very serious problem if not taken care of."
Mundt is concerned about countries that primarily depend on wheat as one of their major food sources.
"The vulnerability of the food supply caught a lot of people by surprise," Peterson said.
There is no knowledge of how serious the disease could be for global wheat production in terms of crop loss.
"These things are hard to predict," Mundt said. "It's one of those things where we never know until it happens."
"We are playing a game to keep ahead of the disease," Peterson said. "Right now we are losing."
Peterson said there is a need for research tools and funding to try to get ahead of the disease. Due to recent success by scientists to resist other pathogens, funding has declined significantly.
"The concern now is Pakistan and India, which are major wheat producers," Peterson said.
Samantha Blann, staff writer
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
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