1. Euphresco Final Dissemination Conference 30 th June – 1 st July 2010 Johan Van Vaerenbergh Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research Unit Plant Sciences – Crop Protection www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be A Researcher’s Perspective: Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria

2. General issues on NC Projects What are projects about? How are projects implemented? What are my experiences? Key outputs & utility Key benefits Perspectives

3. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria General issues Very applied topics Easily identifiable expertise Low administrative burden Quickly made operational Laboratories from EUPHRESCO Observer countries and from non- European countries can be involved It is amazing that curiosity survives formal education

4. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria General issues (2) National funding resources 1 st round: 2 (out of 4) projects 2 nd round : 1 project It is amazing that curiosity survives formal education

5. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria NC projects on Q-bacteria involve methods for diagnosis, detection and identification used for post-entry testing and in national surveys The problems we face today cannot be solved with the level of thinking we were at when we created them.

6. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Common objective Verify performance or validate existing (official) and published methods and new, innovative methods through interlaboratory comparison If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

7. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria

8. Sampling protocols Molecular strain identification Detection latent infections & on-site diagnosis 5 countries Project leader: AGES, Austria

9. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Development of a simple test for identification of the pathotypes of the potato cyst nematode Validation of diagnostic methods for the detection and identification of whitefly transmitted viruses of regulatory or quarantine concern to the EU.

10. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Ring test on diagnostic methods for Pantoea stewartii ssp. stewartii Bacterial blight of corn 6 countries Project leader: LNPV, France

11. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Interlaboratory test on detection of Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus (bacterial ring rot of potatoes) Ralstonia solanacearum (bacterial brown rot of potatoes, bacterial wilt)

12. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Tasks Who (project consortium) How (methods) What (materials) When Preparation & dispatching of samples Testing & Analysis of results Meeting & Workshop Report

13. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Project consortium (ad hoc) EC / EU Expert Group on Bacterial Diseases of Plants 1981 - 1985Development of a Community method for potato ring rot Control Directive 93/85/EEC

14. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria 1990 - 1994 DNA probe hybridisation & protein profiling for detection and identification of C.m. ssp. sepedonicus PCR and other molecular methods for 6 Q-bacteria (CAMAR) Technical workshops If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play. Control Directive 98/57/EEC on Ralstonia solanacearum

15. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Community method for Ralstonia solanacearum DIAGPRO on C.m. ssp. sepedonicus Control Directives 2006/56/EC 2006/63/EC 1998 - 2002 Standards, Measurements & Testing The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources Other networks:

16. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria 23 countries 29 labs

17. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Agree on methods

18. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Materials and samples People love chopping wood. In this activity they immediately see results.

19. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Dispatching of samples

20. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Testing & analysis of results Don't be a scientist ; be a statistician. Much more scope for imagination.

21. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Difficulties for Interlaboratory Test Routine samples with natural infection Different levels of contamination Stability of samples Sending viable pest contaminated samples to other countries (2008/61/EC) Anyone who has never made a mistake, has never tried anything new

22. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Routine samples with natural infection Stability of samples

23. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Dissemination of results and information ILT meeting & workshop on validation of flow immuno assays for on-site detection of C.m. ssp. sepedonicus and Ralstonia solanacearum

24. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Phylogenetic Identification of Quarantine Bacterial Plant Pathogens 12 countries Project leader: FERA, UK

25. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria taxa in Pseudomonas syringae, Xanthomonas & Dickeya Ralstonia solanacearum Erwinia amylovora isolates from European lab collections sequencing of single gene amplicons 265 gene sequences generated in QBOL from 42 taxa or pathovars were transferred to EUPHRESCO

26. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Parkinson N., D. Stead, J. Bew, J. Heeney, L.Tsror & J. Elphinstone, J. 2009. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (2009), 59, 2388–2393

27. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Parkinson, Stead, D., Bew, J., Heeney J., Tsror, L. and Elphinstone, J. 2009. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (2009), 59, 2388–2393 If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough

28. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria

29. Key Outputs (1) Performance of available test methods is reviewed with respect to the requirement in EU Directives Performance of new test methods is reviewed with respect to incorporation in EU Directives or EPPO protocols New method should imply more reliability Any intelligent person can make things more complex. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction

30. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Key Outputs (2) Accuracy of methods is demonstrated Critical issues are resolved in international co-operation ILT is major asset for accredited labs

31. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Utility Decision on accepting a new method is ‘democratic’ in EU Procedure for adoption of new method Council Directives: test methods now in Annexes = modification by Commission decision EPPO Diagnostic protocols ‘on-line’ modification

32. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Key Benefits (1) Agreed & accessible methods facilitate routine use for surveys and post-entry testing Early diagnosis allows prompt decision of better underpinned plant health measures Use of verified test methods improves quality of testing throughout EU Open validation of methods leads to understanding, confidence, trust

33. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Key Benefits (2) Further harmonisation in testing by use of equivalent methods Range of equivalent methods will allow to increase lab capacity Accurate & scientifically proven methods contribute to effective plant health for EU agriculture Accurate tests will reduce costs for growers

34. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria End Notes (1) NC projects are a pertinent tool for ‘fit for purpose’ validation of diagnostic and identification methods Require a solid locomotive to draw project along the designated tracks Reasonably inexpensive cooperation of plant health laboratories in and outside EU Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.

35. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria End Notes (2) Facilitate agreement on test methods and their performance Deepen the roots of confidence in test results and trust in laboratory operation Underpin reinforcement of plant health directives Meet the challenges of sustainable plant health

36. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Perspectives 2 nd Interlaboratory test on detection of C.m. ssp. sepedonicus & Ralstonia solanacearum in potato tubers 23 laboratories from 18 countries Verifying results of ILT1 Real-time PCR in EU Directives Biological reference material Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler

37. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteriaB-net Perspectives Sustained use of biological resources from projects not only sequence data but also cultures

38. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria Acquisition, control, storage, preservation and distribution of biological material B-net Strain typing, phylogeny & taxonomy integrated strain information (strain passport)

39. Non-Competitive projects on Q-bacteria The English contribution to world cuisine : the chip