Plant Biosecurity CRC

From the 2016 Plant Biosecurity CRC Science Exchange: New controls are urgently needed to manage Queensland fruit fly (Q-fly) as the long-used cover-sprays for fruit fly control are being withdrawn for regulatory reasons. Q-fly is the most serious insect pest of summer fruits, crops which have a combined value of approximately $260 million per annum. Effective lures/ traps for mature, egg-laying female flies are especially needed as currently available controls which target the egg-laying...

From the 2016 Plant Biosecurity CRC Science Exchange: Invasive pests and pathogens can have devastating and unpredicted impacts on native ecosystems. The threat that Puccinia psidii (myrtle/eucalyptus/guava rust) posed to Australian industries was well recognised, but until its introduction in 2010, there was scant consideration of the impacts this disease may have on endemic Myrtaceous plant species and associated communities in native environments. Since its detection in Australia, the...

From the 2016 Plant Biosecurity CRC Science Exchange: This talk explores the importance of incursion response tools from an end-user perspective, highlighted through a tomato potato psyllid and Candidatus Liberibacter case study. The tomato potato psyllid (TPP) is a tiny sap-sucking insect that feeds on tomato, potato, capsicum, chilli and nightshade plants and can transmit the devastating bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso). CLso wreaks havoc on crops causing stunting,...

From the 2016 Plant Biosecurity CRC Science Exchange: Around the world, grain industries are looking for solutions to the increasing problem of insect resistance to the key fumigant phosphine, a fumigant that underpins the Australian exports of grains. PBCRC has developed and implemented a national phosphine resistance management program that involves: implementation of new and effective national treatment protocols; communication of resistance trends to industry based on substantial...

Mark Schutze discusses how fruit fly threatens global agriculture and why being able to identify different species is so important. Mark leads a Plant Biosecurity CRC project developing a suite of tailor-made molecular diagnostic tools and a major revision of the Australian Handbook for the Identification of Fruit Flies (3:33). Mark is a Postdoctoral Fellow from the Queensland University of Technology; partners on his project are QUT, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries,...

Jacqui Morris discusses how her research into tiny insects called psyllids will help keep Australia's potato industry safe from Zebra Chip disease. Jacqui is a PBCRC PhD student studying at AgriBio - Centre for AgriBioscience, a partnership between the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport & Resources and La Trobe University (3:57). Read more on Jacqui's work at http://www.pbcrc.com.au/research/project/62116

Dr Linda Semeraro discusses studying for her PhD with PBCRC and how she identifies insects for biosecurity purposes at AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, a La Trobe University/Victorian Government partnership. 4:39