Bridging Engineering and Agriculture for Plant Biosecurity
Improved technologies are needed to anticipate, prevent, prepare for, and respond to the introduction of high risk plant pathogens (HRPPs) into the United States. We have designed, tested, and implemented autonomous (self-controlling) unmanned aerial vehicles to study the movement of HRPPs in the atmosphere, tens to hundreds of meters above the surface of the earth.
New Microbes and Novel Ecological Functions
Agricultural ecosystems are shaped by interactions with atmospheric microbial assemblages— time-stamped consortia of microscopic life forms moving through the atmosphere from near and faraway places. We are using cutting-edge molecular genetics tools to discover and characterize novel microbes in the atmosphere.
New technologies for the rapid and early detection of mycotoxins in food and feed need to be developed and implemented, and diagnostic services must be accessible and available to growers and producers for determining resulting mycotoxin contamination. We are developing new and improved strategies to control mycotoxin contamination in wheat and barley.
Apple scab is an economic threat to commercial apple production in Virginia. Recent evidence suggests that apple scab populations in commercial Virginia apple orchards may be developing resistance to fungicides commonly used to control apple scab. We are examining the frequency, timing, and mechanisms of fungicide resistance in apple scab populations in Virginia.
Biofuels are important
sources of green energy. The production of ethanol generates a large
amount of waste in the form of distiller's grains that are fed to domestic
animals. This food source may be contaminated with mycotoxins. We are
engineering plants to detoxify dangerous mycotoxins, in an effort to
help maintain a sustainable production of biofuels and management of
waste residues.
Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
lab phone: (540) 231-0733
fax: (540) 231-7477
email: dschmale@vt.edu