Novel technology and internationally renowned experts team up at OARDC to keep dangerous enemies at bay — pests and plant diseases that could threaten our food supply and cause significant losses to the economy.

OARDC is taking advantage of the latest advances in genetics and genomics research to develop unique biological controls to fight devastating insect pests. Researchers are also finding genetic markers that improve our understanding of disease mechanisms that could pave the way to creating new management strategies to reduce crop losses.

Bio-controls are gaining popularity as consumer demand for organic foods and ecologically friendly pest- and disease-control methods grows. And genetic-marker technology is proving to be a very useful tool for the development of plants that are disease-resistant or more nutritious.

One example is the work of OARDC entomologist Parwinder Grewal, who leads a national project aimed at sequencing the genome of insect-parasitic nematodes — microscopic roundworms that are highly effective biological insecticides against a wide variety of pests. The project, funded at $1.8 million by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), could revolutionize biological control by boosting the effectiveness of nematodes as insect killers, increasing the number of their target pests and the environments where they could be applied, and making them cost-effective for use in high-acreage crops such as corn and cotton.

Such advances, Grewal said, could turn insect-parasitic nematodes, currently a $10-million industry worldwide, into a billion-dollar business. But more importantly, increased use of these biocontrol agents would help reduce the environmental and human-health risks associated with excessive use of chemical insecticides.

In another area of research, OARDC plant pathologist Sophien Kamoun is the key player in two national projects aimed at sequencing the genome of two devastating crop killers, Phytophthora infestans and Phytophthora capsici — fungus-like oomycetes that cause serious diseases in popular vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers. Funding for these projects, totaling $6.7 million, comes from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and USDA.

One of these pathogens, P. infestans (which was responsible for the Irish potato famine), has re-emerged as a pervasive enemy of potato and tomato production. With worldwide losses exceeding $5 billion a year, it has become the single greatest pathogenic threat to global food security. That’s because potatoes are the staple food in many developing countries and the most important non-cereal crop in the world.

“Genome sequencing will allow us to compare these two species, see what their differences are at the molecular level, and learn what makes one infect one crop and not the other,” explained Kamoun, a global leader in oomycete molecular genetics and genomics. “This will open up many possibilities for research and ultimately new management options for growers, including disease-resistant varieties and new, more effective fungicides.”