Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey

A minimum of 25 nurseries and their surroundings will be surveyed for symptoms of sudden oak death. A minimum of 100 plants or at least 2% of each host genus, chosen at random, win be visually inspected for symptoms as outlined in the USDA APHIS PPQ Phytophthora ramorum National Nursery Survey 2004 Surveyor's Manual. In addition, cul1 piles of plant materials and native host vegemtion growing along the perimeter of the nurseries will be inspected for symptOms. Samples of aU suspicious plants will be taken (at least 40 symptomatic leaves and/or stems per nursery) and processed at the University of Kentucky Plant Pathology Diagnostic Laboratory in Lexington, KY. ' A ~iosaf~ty Level 2 containment hood is required and will need to be purchased for this work. This.cost 18 normally treated as indirect at the University of Kentucky, howevert due to the ~uJrem.ent8 of this project. University policy allows this cost to be requested and justified as a direct cost. The class 2 containment hood is essential to fulfill the specific objectives of this proposal based on requirements of the Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2002; Possession, Use, and Transfer of Biological Agents and Toxins. The Act was published in the Federal Register, Vol. 68, No. 212 November 2003. In the act, reference is made to req~ments of the Act published in the Federal Register, Vol. 67 on December 13, 2002 which describes an interim role that established the standards and procedures governing the possession. use, and transfer of biological agents that pose a severe threat to plant health. In the regulations, Biosafety Level 2 is required where working with biological samples might create infectious aerosols or splashes. In the case of Phytophthora ramorum, the regulated microbe that is the object of the SOD survey, the microscopic sporangia are easily detached and could become airbome upon opening a package containing infected plant samples. Thus, there is a need for a Biosafety Level 2 containment hood to prevent ~cidenta1 release. of this regulated plant pathogen. The hood will be used almost exclusively (>80%) for the scientific aims of this proposal.