Causal Agent of Rice Leaf Blight is Added to Bioterror Watchlist
October 31, 2008| |
Despite objections from scientists, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has included the bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae to a list of ‘select agents’ that could be used for bioterrorism. The bacterium causes the bacterial leaf blight, one of the most serious diseases of rice. Bacterial blight is reported to have reduced annual rice yield in Asia by as much as 60 percent.
Nature reports that several researchers who work with the microbe argued against the listing. Researchers have until next month to notify the government if they possess the bacterium, and until April 14 to come into full compliance with the regulations.
Read the article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/4551163b
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