Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611
Performing Department
Plant Pathology
Non Technical Summary
This is an Extension project; the funding request is limited to two years. Proper identification is the first step to selecting the best IPM option for a given pest, increasing the number of options for best management, and decreasing the chance of off-target management ramifications. Often, diagnosticians turn to online searches for relevant images to assist them with their identifications. A multitude of image libraries and databases exist in the US and abroad, several of which include images of plant diseases and/or pests (Bugwood, PDIS, PADIL). However, these databases house relatively few images of morphologic diagnostic features such as close-ups of symptoms, culture plates, spores, mycelia, are narrowly-focused to a few high-impact organisms of regulatory significance (Systematic Mycology and Biology Laboratory database), or contain few images with relevance to southeastern US agriculture. We propose to fill this void at the request of our Southern Plant Diagnostic Network (SPDN) members, and to make these images available through existing oft-used venues such as IPMimages.org (part of the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health and IPMimages, University of Georgia) and DDIS (through the University of Florida). It is the intent of this proposal to i) fine-tune search mechanisms for existing databases relevant to the project (IPMimages and DDIS), ii) develop and upload new region-specific images and iii) provide the accompanying customer support to bring in additional relevant diagnostic lab images efficiently. The proposed effort represents an enhancement to the Bugwood Network and SPDN public resources with a finite timeline. We plan to leverage existing support for diagnostician training and educational content development with the proposed budget to accomplish the project goals and accelerate the availability of deliverables (pathogen morphology and symptom-specific image collections relevant to southeastern US agriculture and ecosystems). Proper identification is the first step to selecting the best IPM option for a given pest, increasing the number of options for best management, and decreasing the chance of off-target management ramifications.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Objectives and Impacts: 1.Capture existing regional sample data in high-resolution image form 2.Increase the utility of existing image databases with new image collections including cultures, symptoms, and anatomical and morphological indicators. 3.Develop a federal search feature to incorporate images from DDIS and Bugwood in a single search and link culture media notes to existing recipes and protocols within the SPDN and Bugwood websites Impacts upon completion of listed objectives: 1.Documentation of existing samples and diagnoses augments deliverables of the SPDN hub laboratory, increasing visibility of productive members of the Network and UF 2.Diagnosticians, specialists, and county agents decrease time spent on individual samples, and their value to their clientele increases. Accurate identification leads to proper management recommendations from within the existing IPM strategy. 3.Development of a search tool requires less time and IT resources than development of new software to link both databases or to enter images into both databases. End-users reap benefits of a larger data set, using a search interface they are already familiar with.
Project Methods
Approach and Procedures: To upload pictures to the IPM images database from the plant clinic at UF we will use a Leica DM2500 compound microscope, Leica MZ16 stereo microscope, and Micro Publisher 5.0 RTV, 5 mega pixel CCD Color-Bayer Mosaic camera, and software. Sample photographs: 1.Macroscopic image of sample 2.Low-power light microscope image 3.High-power light microscope images of visible structures prior to culture 4.Samples will be plated onto culture media and at least two more images will be collected: a.Macroscopic image of culture plate (accompanying information will include media type used, length of time for culture to grow, temperature and light conditions; media names may be cross-referenced to the Media Cookbook within the Bugwood Wiki and/or the Protocols and Recipes within the SPDN portal) b.Microscopic images of mycelia, spores, bacterial colonies, etc. During year one of the project images will be accumulated from submitted samples at the Plant Disease Clinic in Gainesville. This includes working with diagnosticians and other personnel to make sure that the submitted images are correctly identified and labeled conforming to the standards already in place. The images will then be submitted to DDIS to undergo an existing review process (subject matter experts currently review each image or image set submitted to the DDIS database to ensure the accuracy of the identifying information accompanying the image, as well as the image quality and utility to end-users). After acceptance of the images into the DDIS Media Library, the images will be available to search via the Bugwood website interface. New images will be analyzed by IT contacts at CISEH for resolution and formatting. If year one shows utility of the image collections then during year two the hub labs for each of the five NPDN regions will be involved, as well as the SPDN laboratories. The laboratories have already indicated their willingness to participate. Evaluation Plans: 1.Survey of diagnosticians within our region via a phone survey and a follow-up online survey. We will set the bar at 50% of our member diagnosticians accessing the resources in Year 1, and 80% in Year 2. We plan to collect qualitative data from the surveys including which collections were most useful, what organisms might be missing from the collections, and other input to increase the utility of the image library. 2.Analysis of usage statistics from the Bugwood and DDIS Media Library sites. We can track use of specific resources within large portals and websites to focus our attention on the relevant pages that include our image collections. We can then fine-tune the data we draw on by focusing on the US and specific regions by noting the IP addresses of our visitors While we acknowledge that this is not fool-proof, it does produce a useful measure of local access. 3.We will solicit feedback during face-to-face meetings of the SPDN and NPDN members, during which time we will demonstrate the image collection access, review process, and the option to add their images to the collection.