The role of Q-Bank in supporting plant regulatory agencies
P. BONANTS (1), M. J. Edema (2)
(1) Plant Research International, Wageningen, NETHERLANDS; (2) n VWA, division Plant, Wageningen, NETHERLANDS
Phytopathology 101:S218

The rate of introduction and establishment of damaging plant pests and diseases has increased steadily over the last century as a result of expanding globalisation of trade in plant material, climate change, EU expansion, and by a recognised decline in the resources supporting plant health activities. Furthermore there is a constant decline in the number of taxonomic specialists in the different disciplines (mycology, bacteriology, etc.), capable of identifying plant pathogens (in particular new emerging diseases). Also other specialists in phytopathology and other fields which are vital for sustaining sound public policy on phytosanitary issues are threatened with extinction. These problems affect all members of the EU and other nations. In this context Qbank has been developed (www.Q-bank.eu) and now consists of a dynamic open-access database of regulated plant pests and look-alikes, linked to curated and publicly accessible reference collections. It contains sequence and morphological data including photographs, nomenclatural and diagnostic data of specimens available in reference collections. DNA barcoding data of quarantine organisms generated in the EU project of QBOL (www.qbol.org) will be made available for Q-bank to support plant health diagnostics. Curators from many countries for the different groups have been appointed and links with other databases have been made; this in order to provide Q-bank an international role in supporting plant health agencies.

© 2011 by The American Phytopathological Society. All rights reserved.