Glenda Pereira: 00:08
Welcome to the Maine Farmcast. This is your host, Dr. Glenda Pereira, an assistant professor at University of Maine and the dairy specialist for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. For today’s episode, we have returned guests with our plant doctor, Dr. Alicyn Smart.
Glenda Pereira: 00:26
And for folks who might be curious about what the UMaine Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab can offer, there is a previous episode where Dr. Smart talked to us about what their lab offers and entails. So be sure to reference back to that episode. It’s linked in the show notes. But Alicyn, something that we mentioned in the last episode was that you and your team are part of the National Plant Diagnostic Network.
Glenda Pereira: 00:55
And you’re actually the executive director for the National Plant Diagnostic Network, which is a network of folks. And I think you mentioned maybe 17 labs are actually seeking accreditation. Here at UMaine, you’re the folks making sure that those labs have that accreditation potential. But as part of that, and part of your role within Extension, you do a lot of applied research and you seek grant funds to support your lab and obviously try to continue to improve plant management. But I wanted to mention some of the programming that you and your team are conducting.
Alicyn Smart: 01:37
Yeah. So yes, you’re right. My lab is funded off of grants. So we apply for grants to ensure that we can do the work that we do. And the majority of our funding that supports our lab comes from the Food and Agricultural Defense Initiative, National Plant Diagnostic Network.
Alicyn Smart: 01:59
And interestingly enough, that was initiated post 9/11 when the US realized that our agricultural biodefense was very important and vulnerable. And so NPDN, the National Plant Diagnostic Network, links the labs so that we have a line of communication so that if there is a potential pathogen that comes into the United States and, say, my lab identifies it, there is a quick response to make sure that there is not a rapid spread. So that’s the funding for the lab. But we also, like you said, do research, applied research. And that research is really targeted to carry out and get information that then feeds into our management reports.
Alicyn Smart: 02:54
So we’re always looking to increase knowledge that we can then pass along to our farmers or our growers so that they can better support alleviation of plant diseases. So there are some kind of exciting ones that we have applied for this year that I’m really excited to see if we are going to get, and then we can start moving on. We never mentioned this last time, but the number one host that we get in the lab is garlic. And so that might be surprising to some, but the reason for that is because garlic has a pretty high market value, garlic seed, actually. So in Maine, we have about 85 acres of garlic that are produced, the majority being for fresh market.
Alicyn Smart: 03:43
And one garlic bulb can be sold for about $3, which is a lot for seed. So my lab will, it’s a requirement of some seed companies to have them send their garlic seed to us, their garlic bulbs, I should say, and have them tested for a few different organisms. So we test it for bloat nematode, which is a nematode that can persist in the soil for about thirty years. So you can imagine the detriment that that might have. We don’t want seed being sold with the nematode in it and then spreading across our state or even to other states.
Alicyn Smart: 04:31
As well as white rot, that’s a fungal disease that too can last for about the same length of time. And then also botrytis neck and bulb rot. So these are organisms that are really great at persisting. So they’re the most concerning. Those are the ones that we test for garlic seed.
Alicyn Smart: 04:53
But because garlic is our number one host, a lot of the samples that we get, they come from Maine, but they also come from other states as well. We get to see a diversity of different things on garlic. Over the eight years that I’ve been here, I think it’s been seven years that we’ve done the garlic testing, and I have seen an increase in one particular pathogen over that time. And we would consider that an emerging pathogen.
Alicyn Smart: 05:23
And unfortunately, it’s an organism that we don’t have much information on. The fungal pathogen is Fusarium, which goes to a lot of different crops. But this is slightly different within species, not to get too in the weeds. But it’s not just
Glenda Pereira: 05:41
That was a joke if you didn’t pick it up.
Alicyn Smart: 05:44
I mean, not really. I didn’t mean to get into the weeds. We’re not the only ones seeing this. So California is also seeing it.
Alicyn Smart: 05:55
The UK has kind of experienced this earlier on, so they’re further along in their research. So this particular grant that we have applied for and collaborated on with about 30 other researchers that span from Australia to the Netherlands to Canada, there’s a group of us that are working on identifying a number of different areas of this pathogen because there are so many unknowns. So part of this, if funded, some of the outcomes would be resistant garlic to this particular pathogen. We would have better diagnostic tools for detection because right now it is lacking.
Alicyn Smart: 06:46
We’re working on that right now, though, trying to get a head start. And then also understanding the cultural practices that would reduce the disease because there is so much unknown about this organism. There’s just an ample amount of research that needs to be done on it.
Glenda Pereira: 07:07
Yeah. And something, so I’m not as familiar with this pathogen, but something that came up is that it potentially can cause mycotoxins or it has the potential to have a mycotoxin. So then it can impact folks that are going to be potentially consuming this garlic if they do have this disease. Yeah. So we didn’t really touch on the other aspect of your role in all of this, which is that a lot of the samples that you get, a lot of them are edible.
Glenda Pereira: 07:41
And so there’s always the urgency of how do we use best management practices to try to prevent, especially for people who are more susceptible to getting infections versus others, right? The average healthy person might eat something that has a mold on it and not even have any external effects, but it would be those folks that are more susceptible. So there’s an urgency to find out more information for how you can minimize these diseases.
Alicyn Smart: 08:13
Yeah. So it really is the immunocompromised, I think, who would be most susceptible to ingesting or inhaling that organism. It’s not a huge concern, I would say. But definitely, the focus is the growing and the loss of yield for this particular research project. But yeah, there is certainly that aspect of it as well.
Alicyn Smart: 08:40
Yep.
Glenda Pereira: 08:42
Something you said was it takes thirty years to eventually eradicate this fungus once it’s in your soil and your growing medium.
Alicyn Smart: 08:55
That was actually another organism. Oh. That’s not Fusarium. Yeah. With this one, we don’t even know some of the most basic things.
Alicyn Smart: 09:03
We haven’t even gotten into a question like that.
Glenda Pereira: 09:06
Yeah. How to disrupt it, right?
Alicyn Smart: 09:08
Yeah. We haven’t gotten there. But right now in my lab, we are simply testing what species of Fusarium we have. Every garlic sample that came in over the last growing season, we cultured to see if we could get Fusarium to grow out of it. We have about fifty, sixty different cultures of Fusarium.
Alicyn Smart: 09:33
And so now what we’re doing is we’re testing and speciating that to see what we have. That’s the first step. That is how basic the information is that we are really lacking.
Glenda Pereira: 09:46
Yeah. Generating. And your lab is part of that. So you’re generating a database and building that knowledge base. So then as more samples come in, and within your network as more folks discuss, you know, here’s the variety or the specific strain I’m seeing, you can better say, yeah, we’ve seen this.
Glenda Pereira: 10:04
Here’s what it looks like. And you mentioned a lot of your work is under the microscope. So then you already have a knowledge base and you can build on that and diagnose more quickly, hopefully.
Alicyn Smart: 10:18
Yeah. Yeah. So my lab will serve as the diagnostic lab for the country for this particular testing for this research project. So I will be receiving all the garlic that is being grown for research efforts to figure out cultural practices, both in Washington and California, and then Arizona and a few other states as well. And ideally, if everything goes right in research, which it never seems to, but if the stars align, at the end of the four years of this research project, we will have a test where growers can go into a field, test the soil, because this is a soilborne pathogen that’s also transmitted with garlic seed.
Alicyn Smart: 11:08
They could test the soil and identify if the Fusarium is in the soil and how much of a Fusarium load is there, pathogen load, to then know if that is okay to plant their garlic in. There’s a series of steps that we have to take before that. But yeah, at the end of it, if everything goes right, we will have quite an amazing management plan for this pathogen that we know nothing about, which is really exciting.
Glenda Pereira: 11:39
Yeah. There’s so much happening in the state of Maine. And I use this podcasting platform as a way to learn. So I’m always just astonished at the types of national programming that we actually are doing here in the state of Maine, because part of our role within Extension is to do outreach and reach our clients and help in applying that research, help in applying those research-based best management practices, and then helping implement those here in the state of Maine.
Glenda Pereira: 12:25
But for your lab specifically, you guys have a more national impact just because you have the right team skill set and then the right tools, like you mentioned, to be able to do that. So congratulations. This is really exciting and I hope it goes well for you. But as we’ve discussed before, when you do a research project, you have 60 more questions than the one you began with. But that’s always a part of the process and it’s always an exciting space to be in. So was there anything else you wanted to include and share with folks about this programming you guys are going to be doing?
Glenda Pereira: 12:50
And they can always follow up with you if they’re curious about this. And I know you’ve offered some webinars and workshops virtually in the past that folks can look to. But was there anything else I missed or that you wanted to share?
Alicyn Smart: 13:05
I guess I would just add one additional hopeful research project we’re going to be doing, which is an apple survey. So hopefully in the future, if funded, we will be doing some testing of orchards, commercial apple orchards, where we will be having those samples tested for about 40-ish viruses and viroids to determine what we have in our state. There is a black hole with that. A couple of years ago, my lab identified an uncharacterized viroid in the United States here in Maine. That really kind of tipped me off that we don’t know what we have.
Alicyn Smart: 13:52
And we need to know what’s here first to then figure out a way to manage it or if it’s worth managing. So I’m excited for that as well. So yeah, we have some exciting plant pathogen research hopefully coming down the pipeline for us. Yeah.
Glenda Pereira: 14:13
And for the general public, when I think about a virus in an orchard, I’m trying to think of it and I say, is it on the apple? Is it on the tree? And I really need to take that micro-credential course because I don’t know the answer to that. But we’ve talked about how a lot of the pathogens that you work with, they have an economic impact for loss, right? Whether it inhibits that plant from doing what it’s supposed to successfully or it kills that plant.
Glenda Pereira: 14:48
Whatever it’s doing to that host, part of the reason why you are a doctor of plant medicine is because your understanding is, is it on the surface? Where is it in the tissue of the actual plant that it’s going to impact? And that is just fascinating. So I don’t want to say you’re so cool, and I think I said this, that I don’t know a lot of pathologists, but it’s just always fascinating that you have to put all those things together and connect those dots first before making a recommendation or diagnosis to a client.
Glenda Pereira: 15:11
And that is part of the reason why you have all the credentials after your name, because you have to continuously get accredited and your lab does accreditation as well. But you’re the executive director of the National Plant Diagnostic Network. And in that, you’re providing feedback and knowledge and sharing that. And essentially what I want to get to the point of is that you’re helping keep our food safer here within the United States.
Glenda Pereira: 15:55
And that’s just a really exciting thing and a place to be within. So I’m just always fascinated by learning things about you, Alicyn. So thank you for being such a wonderful resource for folks in Maine and nationally.
Alicyn Smart: 16:11
Yeah. No. I love my job and I love working with growers and homeowners and people like you. So yeah. Thanks.
Alicyn Smart: 16:17
Good to meet you all.
Glenda Pereira: 16:18
The last thing I’ll leave here is, what is your favorite plant to work with? I’m sure after listening to two episodes, people are like, why wasn’t that the first question that you asked, Glenda? We want to know. Favorite plant? I don’t know.
Alicyn Smart: 16:35
I mean, is it pathetic to say that this Fusarium research is really making me excited? And so perhaps it’s garlic, which is good because that’s the number one host in our lab, but it also makes our lab the smelliest in the building.
Glenda Pereira: 16:48
Do you do any taste testing? I’m just kidding. I know you don’t. I was saying, do you guys all walk around with garlic breath all day?
Alicyn Smart: 16:55
Our hands do smell like garlic the entire summer. Yep. I really should start wearing gloves. Yeah. I don’t know.
Alicyn Smart: 17:05
I don’t know. I feel like I had a pathogen when I started that I really loved. But there’s just so many that I really can’t even say now.
Glenda Pereira: 17:19
Can I just say that you love all of them?
Alicyn Smart: 17:19
Plant pathogens really excite me. Yes. Okay. And that’s also a really weird thing to say. So I’m glad this is a space where I can say that.
Glenda Pereira: 17:27
It’s not, because similar but not the same, when we think about these pathogens, a lot of times it’s in a negative sense. But for the ruminants specifically, they’re what help the ruminant be able to function, right? Without fungi, protozoa, bacteria, they can’t degrade the plant species that they’re consuming. And that’s what their rumen literally comprises of.
Glenda Pereira: 17:59
So it’s a really positive thing for ruminants. They need those fungi to thrive and be happy. And if they’re not, the ruminant can’t survive. So yes, you can love all pathogens.
Alicyn Smart: 18:14
Okay. Thank you.
Glenda Pereira: 18:15
And it doesn’t always have to have a negative connotation because it is exciting, even though in the sense that we’re always trying to diagnose and minimize and eradicate a pathogen.
Alicyn Smart: 18:28
Mhmm.
Glenda Pereira: 18:28
But they have really symbiotic relationships. And you mentioned how this Fusarium is a soilborne pathogen. But in the soil, there are these relationships that exist between pathogens
Alicyn Smart: 18:43
Mhmm.
Glenda Pereira: 18:43
With the plant to make the plant thrive.
Alicyn Smart: 18:46
Yes.
Glenda Pereira: 18:46
It’s just sometimes there are harmful ones. There are tipping points too. Yeah. There are tipping points. This is really exciting because it’s just, like I said, this really cool network of things.
Glenda Pereira: 19:00
And we need both to survive. I mean, the other end being that some of them lead to really big losses, famine, and infections. Yes.
Glenda Pereira: 19:12
But you have a symbiotic relationship, right? So I think that’s the cool piece about this. Anyways, that’s my rant about pathogens and why I think they’re so cool, because the ruminant literally can’t survive without them, without these fungi that break down cellulose and lignin. So anyways, with that, thank you so much again, Dr. Alicyn Smart.
Glenda Pereira: 19:34
We can’t learn enough about plants from you and your team. We’re looking forward to having you again on the Maine Farmcast, hopefully with more Fusarium and garlic updates, and if not, with another emerging disease. So thanks so much for being on the Maine Farmcast again. Thanks for having me. And for folks who have future topic suggestions, comments, or questions, be sure to email us at extension.farmcast@maine.edu.