Plant pathogen forensics: capabilities, needs, and recommendations.

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Plant Pathology
• Microbial Forensics

Background:

• Biological attacks on U.S. agriculture threaten yield, quality, economy, and environment.
• Current agricultural strategies prioritize natural disease prevention over intentional pathogen response.
• Microbial forensics and criminal attribution are vital components of national security for bioterror events.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess existing information, technologies, and resources for postintroduction plant pathogen forensics.
• To identify capabilities that can be repurposed from plant health strategies for forensic applications.
• To provide recommendations for enhancing plant pathogen forensics capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Review of current plant health technologies and resources.
• Assessment of applicability for microbial forensics and attribution.
• Analysis of existing information and data relevant to intentional pathogen introductions.

Main Results:

• Many plant health tools can be adapted for pathogen forensics.
• Gaps exist in current capabilities for intentional pathogen attribution.
• Prioritization of efforts and resources is needed to strengthen forensics.

Conclusions:

• Existing plant health infrastructure can support microbial forensics.
• Enhanced preparedness is necessary to address intentional plant pathogen introductions.
• Strategic investment is required to bolster national plant pathogen forensics capabilities.