Ebook: Virus Diseases and Crop Biosecurity

Biosecurity roughly means “safe life” and involves a variety of measures designed to prevent disease – causing agents from entering a region and there being spread. Food supplies are easy to disrupt and the provision of biosecurity at la- land borders is especially challenging if trade is to be maintained and when very few travellers are subjected to thorough inspection. WithinthecontextoftheNATOsponsoredworkshopthatwasheldinKiev, Ukraine during May 4–7, 2005, the pathogens were viruses that infect plants and the region encompassed developing states on the verge of acceding into the European Union. In publishing the papers presented at the workshop, we take this opportunity to thank the sponsors including particularly the NATO Science committee and also the contributors for making the discussions - tertaining and bene?cial. Under United Nations FAO auspices, the International Plant Protection Convention aimed to secure common and effective activities against pests and pathogens. Now, most countries party to that convention have laws and regulations in place to sustain agricultural production under natural threat. National plant protection services exist to inspect growing crops and imp- tations and to determine when and how introduced pathogens might be era- cated. The member states of the European Union, through their national [and also the regional plant protection service (The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation)], advise national governments and develops speci?c protocols (identi?cation, containment and eradication) that aim at managing pests and pathogens in ways that have minimal impact on trade.

Without sensationalizing or providing technical details that would result in a terrorist's handbook, this volume reflects the concerns expressed by experts from 12 states. A range of usually-neglected vulnerabilities are highlighted. Assessments that focus on the horrifying potential of bioterrorism directly targeting people are commonplace.

This book is exceptional because of its focus on indirect impacts on human health and welfare through challenge to the security of food. These urgently need to be recognised and made subjects of planned investment to counter the threat. Examples of past state-sponsored and independent actions are discussed. The evolution of biological (chemical defoliant) systems for controlling plant growth with unambiguously humanitarian aims is shown to have resulted in a range of counter-terrorist uses. These provide a background for discussion that draws upon experience in tropical and temperate regions and spans the potential for harm offered by naturally occurring plant pathogenic viruses targeting food plants or forestry. Management options are addressed and the need for protection is set against the risk of discouraging biotechnolo

Without sensationalizing or providing technical details that would result in a terrorist's handbook, this volume reflects the concerns expressed by experts from 12 states. A range of usually-neglected vulnerabilities are highlighted. Assessments that focus on the horrifying potential of bioterrorism directly targeting people are commonplace.

This book is exceptional because of its focus on indirect impacts on human health and welfare through challenge to the security of food. These urgently need to be recognised and made subjects of planned investment to counter the threat. Examples of past state-sponsored and independent actions are discussed. The evolution of biological (chemical defoliant) systems for controlling plant growth with unambiguously humanitarian aims is shown to have resulted in a range of counter-terrorist uses. These provide a background for discussion that draws upon experience in tropical and temperate regions and spans the potential for harm offered by naturally occurring plant pathogenic viruses targeting food plants or forestry. Management options are addressed and the need for protection is set against the risk of discouraging biotechnolo
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XII
A SHORT HISTORY OF WARFARE EMPHASIZING THE BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS....Pages 1-8
CROP VIRUSES AND VIRUS DISEASES: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE....Pages 9-32
PLANT VIRUSES IN EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE: CURRENT PROBLEMS AND FUTURE ASPECTS....Pages 33-44
SIGNIFICANT WAYS TO SPREAD PLANT VIRUS DISEASES IN AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEMS: IS AGROTERRORISM POSSIBLE?....Pages 45-54
SOIL-BORNE VIRUSES OF CROP PLANTS—POTENTIAL AGENTS FOR BIOTERRORIST ATTACKS?....Pages 55-69
GENOMIC APPROACHES IN VIRUS DIAGNOSTICS A PERSONAL ASSESSMENT OF REALITIES WHEN FACED WITH VIRUSES IN A PLANT BIOSECURITY CONTEXT....Pages 71-80
MOLECULAR METHODS FOR DETECTION AND QUANTITATION OF VIRUS IN APHIDS....Pages 81-88
THE USE OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES IN PLANT PROTECTION AND FOR STUDYING VIRUS-INDUCED PATHOGENIC PROCESSES....Pages 89-99
IDENTIFICATION OF PLANT HOST FACTORS INTERACTING WITH VIRUSES: NOVEL TARGETS FOR VIRUS CONTROL....Pages 101-106
CURRENT VIEWS ON HOST COMPONENTS INVOLVED IN PLANT VIRUS INTERCELLULAR TRAFFICKING....Pages 107-119
ABIOTIC ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: EFFECTS ON EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PLANT VIRUS INFECTIONS....Pages 121-132
SOMACLONAL VARIATION AS A SOURCE OF TOMATO SPOTTED WILT VIRUS-RESISTANCE IN PLANTS....Pages 133-143
Back Matter....Pages 145-148

Without sensationalizing or providing technical details that would result in a terrorist's handbook, this volume reflects the concerns expressed by experts from 12 states. A range of usually-neglected vulnerabilities are highlighted. Assessments that focus on the horrifying potential of bioterrorism directly targeting people are commonplace.

This book is exceptional because of its focus on indirect impacts on human health and welfare through challenge to the security of food. These urgently need to be recognised and made subjects of planned investment to counter the threat. Examples of past state-sponsored and independent actions are discussed. The evolution of biological (chemical defoliant) systems for controlling plant growth with unambiguously humanitarian aims is shown to have resulted in a range of counter-terrorist uses. These provide a background for discussion that draws upon experience in tropical and temperate regions and spans the potential for harm offered by naturally occurring plant pathogenic viruses targeting food plants or forestry. Management options are addressed and the need for protection is set against the risk of discouraging biotechnolo
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XII
A SHORT HISTORY OF WARFARE EMPHASIZING THE BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS....Pages 1-8
CROP VIRUSES AND VIRUS DISEASES: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE....Pages 9-32
PLANT VIRUSES IN EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE: CURRENT PROBLEMS AND FUTURE ASPECTS....Pages 33-44
SIGNIFICANT WAYS TO SPREAD PLANT VIRUS DISEASES IN AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEMS: IS AGROTERRORISM POSSIBLE?....Pages 45-54
SOIL-BORNE VIRUSES OF CROP PLANTS—POTENTIAL AGENTS FOR BIOTERRORIST ATTACKS?....Pages 55-69
GENOMIC APPROACHES IN VIRUS DIAGNOSTICS A PERSONAL ASSESSMENT OF REALITIES WHEN FACED WITH VIRUSES IN A PLANT BIOSECURITY CONTEXT....Pages 71-80
MOLECULAR METHODS FOR DETECTION AND QUANTITATION OF VIRUS IN APHIDS....Pages 81-88
THE USE OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES IN PLANT PROTECTION AND FOR STUDYING VIRUS-INDUCED PATHOGENIC PROCESSES....Pages 89-99
IDENTIFICATION OF PLANT HOST FACTORS INTERACTING WITH VIRUSES: NOVEL TARGETS FOR VIRUS CONTROL....Pages 101-106
CURRENT VIEWS ON HOST COMPONENTS INVOLVED IN PLANT VIRUS INTERCELLULAR TRAFFICKING....Pages 107-119
ABIOTIC ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: EFFECTS ON EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PLANT VIRUS INFECTIONS....Pages 121-132
SOMACLONAL VARIATION AS A SOURCE OF TOMATO SPOTTED WILT VIRUS-RESISTANCE IN PLANTS....Pages 133-143
Back Matter....Pages 145-148
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