Improved technologies are needed to anticipate, prevent, prepare for, and respond to the introduction of high risk plant pathogens into the United States. We are using drones to study the movement of plant pathogens in the atmosphere, tens to hundreds of meters above the surface of the earth.
Microorganisms are abundant and diverse in rain (precipitation). Some of these rain-associated microorganisms produce proteins that catalyze the nucleation of ice crystals at significantly warmer temperatures than would normally be required for ice formation, suggesting that they may play important roles in weather. We are characterizing ice-nucleating microorganisms in the atmosphere and in rain.
New technologies for the rapid and early detection of mycotoxins in food and feed need to be developed and implemented, and diagnostic services must be accessible and available to growers and producers for determining resulting mycotoxin contamination. We provide testing services for mycotoxins in wheat, barley, and ethanol co-products.
Biofuels are important
sources of green energy. The production of ethanol
generates a large amount of waste in the form of
distiller's grains that are fed to domestic animals.
This food source may be contaminated with mycotoxins. We
are using enzymes and microorganisms to detoxify
dangerous mycotoxins in ethanol co-products.
