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Ehretia cymosa var. cymosa showing symptoms of feeding damage caused by high numbers of S. dorsalis present in developing buds and young leaves. Kew accession no. 1959.65115 Palm House, bed 16

Ehretia cymosa var. cymosa showing symptoms of feeding damage caused by high numbers of S. dorsalis present in developing buds and young leaves. Kew accession no. 1959.65115 Palm House, bed 16

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Increasing trade in plants and plant products across continents heightens the risk of exotic insect pests expanding geographically into new habitats. This threatens not only the production and economic value of widely traded crops but the survival of species grown or sought by low-income communities. The first European outbreak of Scirtothrips dors...

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... A.3.2.1 | Possibility of entry from the surrounding environment Scirtothrips dorsalis was found in a greenhouse at Kew Gardens in South England in 2007 (Scott-Brown et al., 2018) and since then it has been under official control (Dossier Section 3.0), although the last official records are from 2012. However, there is no information of the thrips being able to spread beyond the greenhouse. ...
... of the information used for the evaluation Possibility that the pest/pathogen could enter exporting nurseries Scirtothrips dorsalis was found for the first time in the UK in December 2007 in a greenhouse (Palm House) at Royal Botanic Garden Kew in South England(Scott-Brown et al., 2018). The widespread presence of the pest is doubtful in the UK, although has not been declared as eradicated. ...
... Scirtothrips dorsalis was found for the first time in the UK in December 2007 in a greenhouse (Palm House) at Royal Botanic Garden Kew in South England (Scott-Brown et al., 2018). Since 2008, the discovered population has been under official control by the plant health authorities with the objective of achieving complete eradication (Collins, 2010). ...
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The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as ‘High risk plants, plant products and other objects’. This Scientific Opinion covers plant health risks posed by potted plants and bundles of bare‐root plants or cell grown young plants or graftwood/budwood of Prunus spinosa imported from the United Kingdom, taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by the UK. All pests associated with the commodities were evaluated against specific criteria for their relevance for this opinion. One quarantine pest, Scirtothrips dorsalis, one protected zone quarantine pest Bemisia tabaci (European population) and one non‐regulated pest, the scale Eulecanium excrescens, that fulfilled all relevant criteria were selected for further evaluation. The risk mitigation measures proposed in the technical Dossier from the UK were evaluated, taking into account the possible limiting factors. For these pests, expert judgement is given on the likelihood of pest freedom, taking into consideration the risk mitigation measures acting on the pest, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. The degree of pest freedom varies among the pests evaluated, with E. excrescens being the pest most frequently expected on the imported potted plants. The Expert Knowledge Elicitation indicated with 95% certainty that between 9981 and 10,000 plants per 10,000 would be free from the above‐mentioned scale.
... Scirtothrips dorsalis was found in a greenhouse at Kew Gardens in South England in 2007 (Scott- Brown et al., 2018) and since then it has been under official control (Dossier Section 3.0), although last official records are from 2012. However, there is no information of the thrips being able to spread beyond the greenhouse. ...
... Summary of the information used for the evaluationPossibility that the pest/pathogen could enter exporting nurseries Scirtothrips dorsalis was found for the first time in the UK in December 2007 in a greenhouse(Palm House) at Royal Botanic Garden Kew in South England(Scott-Brown et al., 2018). The widespread presence of the pest is doubtful in the UK, although not declared as eradicated. ...
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The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as ‘High risk plants, plant products and other objects'. This Scientific Opinion covers plant health risks posed by plants of Prunus avium possibly grafted on rootstocks of either P. avium, P. canescens, P. cerasus, P. pseudocerasus or their hybrids imported from the UK, taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by the UK. All pests associated with the commodities were evaluated against specific criteria for their relevance for this opinion. Three quarantine pests Scirtothrips dorsalis, tobacco ringspot virus and tomato ringspot virus), one protected zone EU quarantine pest (Bemisia tabaci (European population), and three non‐ regulated pests (Colletotrichum aenigma, Eulecanium excrescens and Takahashia japonica) that fulfilled all relevant criteria were selected for further evaluation. The risk mitigation measures proposed in the technical Dossier from the UK were evaluated, taking into account the possible limiting factors. For these pests, expert judgement is given on the likelihood of pest freedom, taking into consideration the risk mitigation measures acting on the pest, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. The degree of pest freedom varies among the pests evaluated, with Colletotrichum aenigma being the pest most frequently expected on the imported potted plants. The Expert Knowledge Elicitation indicated with 95% certainty that between 9971 and 10,000 plants per 10,000 would be free from the above‐mentioned fungus.
... Understanding the nutritional requirements and feeding mechanism of thrips is important for developing effective control strategies to manage different agronomic pests, including invasive thrips and the tospoviruses that it vectors [16]. Thrips generally harm crops by scraping the outer layer (epidermis) and sucking the cell sap from young leaves, making them curl up and become smaller, thus, affecting growing shoots [17]. Depending on the chemical constituents and appropriate food source, the host plant accepts thrips for feeding [18]. ...
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The world population's growing demand for food is expected to increase dramatically by 2050. The agronomic productivity for food is severely affected due to biotic and abiotic constraints. At a global level, insect pests alone account for~20% loss in crop yield every year. Deployment of noxious chemical pesticides to control insect pests always has a threatening effect on human health and environmental sustainability. Consequently, this necessitates for the establishment of innovative, environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and alternative means to mitigate insect pest management strategies. According to a recent study, using chloroplasts engineered with double-strand RNA (dsRNA) is novel successful combinatorial strategy deployed to effectively control the most vexing pest, the western flower thrips (WFT: Frankliniella occidentalis). Such biotechnological avenues allowed us to recapitulate the recent progress of research methods, such as RNAi, CRISPR/Cas, mini chromosomes, and RNA-binding proteins with plastid engineering for a plausible approach to effectively mitigate agronomic insect pests. We further discussed the significance of the maternal inheritance of the chloroplast, which is the major advantage of chloroplast genome engineering.
... Transboundary (domestic, international) trade of plants and certain human activities, including the inadvertent movement of plant materials, offers a unique opportunity for exotic pests to hitchhike and establish in a new region (Kumar et al. 2013, Su 2013, Scott-Brown et al. 2018. Apart from the species-specific traits such as polyphagy and adaptability to the new habitat, the frequency of the invasion with the number of individuals introduced is an important factor determining successful invasion by a pest (Su 2013). ...
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Chilli thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, is a cryptic species complex of at least 9 species, 2 of which (South Asia 1 and East Asia 1) have been confirmed damaging >50 plant taxa in the United States. To develop a knowledge-based management program for this pest in the United States, the objectives of the study were to (i) survey for S. dorsalis species complex in the suspected regions and (ii) assess the reproductive hosts of the predominant member available. Thrips samples received from collaborators were subjected to morpholo-molecular characterization. Of the 101 thrips populations received across the United States between 2015 and 2021, 71 populations were confirmed as S. dorsalis, with ~25% further identified as East Asia 1, compared with ~41% identified as South Asia 1, suggesting the latter species is more prevalent in the US. East Asia 1 was primarily found in samples collected from Hydrangea sp. (95%) in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, indicating geographic range expansion in the Northeast and successful overwintering in areas with hard freezes. While assessing the host range of South Asia 1 (dominant species), 62 plant taxa were evaluated under greenhouse conditions. Among these, 40 feeding and reproductive hosts were confirmed in Florida. We also found 18 new reproductive hosts and 3 feeding hosts of S. dorsalis, which were not previously reported in the literature. The results provide insight into the increasing host range and expanded geographical distribution of S. dorsalis species and will enable the development of a species-specific monitoring and management program.
... = 10,000number of infected plants per 10,000). The fitted values of the uncertainty distribution of the pest freedom are shown in Table A.40. -Brown et al., 2018). Since 2008 the discovered population has been under official control by the plant health authorities with the objective of achieving complete eradication (Collins, 2010). ...
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The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as 'High risk plants, plant products and other objects'. This Scientific Opinion covers plant health risks posed by plants of Acer pseudoplatanus imported from the United Kingdom (UK) as: (a) 1- to 7-year-old bare root plants for planting, (b) 1- to 7-year-old plants in pots and (c) bundles of 1- to 2-year-old whips and seedlings, taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by the UK. All pests associated with the commodity were evaluated against specific criteria for their relevance for this opinion. Six EU quarantine pests and four pests not regulated in the EU fulfilled all relevant criteria and were selected for further evaluation. For these pests, the risk mitigation measures implemented in the technical dossier from the UK were evaluated taking into account the possible limiting factors. For the selected pests, an expert judgement is given on the likelihood of pest freedom taking into consideration the risk mitigation measures acting on the pest, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. The degree of pest freedom varies among the pests evaluated, with Meloidogyne mali or M. fallax being the pest most frequently expected on the imported plants. The Expert Knowledge Elicitation indicated with 95% certainty that 9,792 or more plants in pots per 10,000 will be free from Meloidogyne mali or M. fallax.
... The fitted values of the uncertainty distribution of the pest freedom are shown in Table A.40. Figure A20: (a) Elicited uncertainty of pest infection per 10,000 plants (histogram in blue-vertical blue line indicates the elicited percentile in the following order: 1%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 99%) and distributional fit (red line); (b) uncertainty of the proportion of pest-free plants per 10,000 (i.e. = 1pest infection proportion expressed as percentage); (c) descending uncertainty distribution function of pest infection per 10,000 plants -Brown et al., 2018). Since 2008, the discovered population has been under official control by the plant health authorities with the objective of achieving complete eradication (Collins, 2010). ...
Article
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The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as 'High risk plants, plant products and other objects'. This Scientific Opinion covers plant health risks posed by plants of Acer platanoides imported from the United Kingdom (UK) as: (a) 1- to 7-year-old bare root plants for planting, (b) 1- to 7-year-old plants in pots and (c) bundles of 1- to 2-year-old whips and seedlings, taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by the UK. All pests associated with the commodity were evaluated against specific criteria for their relevance for this opinion. Six EU quarantine pests and four pests not regulated in the EU fulfilled all relevant criteria and were selected for further evaluation. For the selected pests, the risk mitigation measures implemented in the technical dossier from the UK were evaluated taking into account the possible limiting factors. For these pests, an expert judgement is given on the likelihood of pest freedom taking into consideration the risk mitigation measures acting on the pest, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. The degree of pest freedom varies among the pests evaluated, with Meloidogyne mali or M. fallax being the pest most frequently expected on the imported plants. The Expert Knowledge Elicitation indicated with 95% certainty that 9,792 or more plants in pots per 10,000 will be free from Meloidogyne mali or M. fallax.
... = 10,000number of infected plants per 10,000). The fitted values of the uncertainty distribution of the pest freedom are shown in Table A.32. -Brown et al., 2018). Since 2008 the discovered population has been under official control by the plant health authorities with the objective of achieving complete eradication (Collins, 2010). ...
... Possibility of pest presence in the nursery A.9.2.1. Possibility of entry from the surrounding environment Scirtothrips dorsalis was found in a greenhouse at Kew Gardens in South England in 2007 (Scott- Brown et al., 2018) and since then it has been under official control (Dossier Section 5.0), although last official records are from 2012. However, there is no information of the thrips being able to spread beyond the greenhouse. ...
Article
Full-text available
The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as 'High risk plants, plant products and other objects'. This Scientific Opinion covers plant health risks posed by plants of Acer palmatum imported from the United Kingdom (UK) as: (a) 1- to 2-year-old bare root plants for planting and (b) 1- to 7-year-old plants in pots, taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by the UK. All pests associated with the commodity were evaluated against specific criteria for their relevance for this opinion. Six EU quarantine pests and four pests not regulated in the EU fulfilled all relevant criteria and were selected for further evaluation. For these pests, the risk mitigation measures implemented in the technical dossier from the UK were evaluated taking into account the possible limiting factors. For the selected pests an expert judgement is given on the likelihood of pest freedom taking into consideration the risk mitigation measures acting on the pest, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. The degree of pest freedom varies among the pests evaluated, with Meloidogyne mali or M. fallax being the pest most frequently expected on the imported plants. The expert knowledge elicitation indicated with 95% certainty that 9,792 or more plants in pots per 10,000 will be free from Meloidogyne mali or M. fallax.
... = 10,000number of infected plants per 10,000). The fitted values of the uncertainty distribution of the pest freedom are shown in Table A.48. -Brown et al., 2018). Since 2008 the discovered population has been under official control by the plant health authorities with the objective of achieving complete eradication (Collins, 2010). ...
Article
Full-text available
The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as 'High risk plants, plant products and other objects'. This Scientific Opinion covers plant health risks posed by plants of Acer campestre imported from the UK as: (a) 1- to 7-year-old bare root plants for planting, (b) 1- to 15-year-old plants in pots and (c) bundles of 1- to 2-year-old whips and seedlings, taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by the UK. All pests associated with the commodity were evaluated against specific criteria for their relevance for this opinion. Six EU quarantine pests and four pests not regulated in the EU fulfilled all relevant criteria and were selected for further evaluation. For the selected pests, the risk mitigation measures implemented in the technical dossier from the UK were evaluated taking into account the possible limiting factors. For these pests, an expert judgement is given on the likelihood of pest freedom taking into consideration the risk mitigation measures acting on the pest, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. In the assessment of risk, the age of the plants was considered, reasoning that older trees are more likely to be infested mainly due to longer exposure time and larger size. The degree of pest freedom varies among the pests evaluated, with Phytophthora ramorum being the pest most frequently expected on the imported plants. The expert knowledge elicitation indicated with 95% certainty that 9,757 or more 1- to 15-year-old plants in pots per 10,000 will be free from P. ramorum.
... Botanical gardens and greenhouses are hotspots for invasive species (Wang et al. 2015). The deliberate import of alien plants might lead to the invasion of non-native plants (Hulme 2011) but might also lead to the introduction of associated insects (Scott-Brown et al. 2018). Here we show an additional example of a recent introduction of two non-native insect pests in botanical gardens of Europe and trace back their invasion route and document the eradication measures. ...
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Ambrosia beetles of the Euwallacea fornicatus species complex are emerging tree pests with a broad host range including important agricultural crops. Native to Southeast Asia, these species were introduced into various countries, where they cause considerable damage to many tree species. Here we report several outbreaks of E. fornicatus s.l. in Europe. The first individuals were found in 2017 in a palm house of a botanical garden in Poznan (Poland) whereas in 2020 an outbreak was detected in a tropical greenhouse in Merano (Italy). In 2021, two additional outbreaks were detected in two greenhouses in Germany, in Erfurt and Berlin. For both cases in Germany it was possible to trace back the invasion to a distributor of exotic plants in the Netherlands where several infested plants were detected. Molecular analyses show that individuals from Poland and Italy are genetically identical but belong to a different mitochondrial clade than individuals in Germany which are identical to most individuals of two greenhouses in the Netherlands. Moreover, in the two greenhouses in the Netherlands we found beetles that belong to another haplotype of E. fornicatus and two haplotypes of E. perbrevis, a species in the E. fornicatus complex, which has not been previously intercepted in Europe. Our study provides novel insights into the invasion history of E. fornicatus and the eradication measures in Europe. Considering the potential of introduction and establishment of Euwallacea ambrosia beetles, particular attention should be paid to monitor the presence of these pests in tropical greenhouses across Europe.
... In groups of fungi that have co-evolved with their host plants, it is inevitable that in areas of increased plant diversity, such as botanical gardens, there will be concomitant levels of increased fungal diversity. Gardens can be great resources of data to predict the host range of different fungal pathogens (Carrillo et al., 2012;Eskalen et al., 2013;Groenteman et al., 2015;Scott-Brown, 2018). Moreover, collecting and tracking fungal pathogens in botanical gardens unquestionably benefit their plant collections, as evidenced by the important research relating to ecology, the plant sciences, and plant protection that has come from monitoring plant pathogens in botanical gardens (Faraji and Karimi, 2020;Wondafrash et al., 2021). ...
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Botanical gardens have extensive spatial databases of their plant specimens; however, the fungi occurring in them are generally unstudied. Botanical gardens, with their great plant diversity, undoubtedly harbor a wide range of symbiotic fungi, including those that are plant-pathogenic. One such group of fungi is powdery mildews (Erysiphaceae). The powdery mildews are among the most prevalent and economically important plant pathogens in the world, with an estimated 906 species in 19 genera. They are known to infect more than 10,000 species of flowering plants and although some species occur across a range of hosts, many are associated with specific plants. Powdery mildews have undergone a long and dynamic coevolution with their host plants, resulting in co -speciation. Botanical gardens provide a living laboratory in which to study these fungi, leading to a wealth of undiscovered fungal diversity. Furthermore, monitoring pathogens in botanical gardens has led to important ecological findings related to the plant sciences and plant protection. Between 2018 and 2022, a collaborative citizen science project was established with 10 botanical gardens in the United States and Mexico. A total of more than 300 powdery mildew specimens were collected on 220 different host taxa. We sequenced the entire internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large subunit (LSU) rDNA loci and phylogenetically and morphologically analyzed these collections revealing 130 species, of which 31 are likely unknown to science. This research highlights the importance of botanical gardens as a reservoir of fungal diversity. Future research will further elucidate the coevolutionary relationship between powdery mildews and their hosts and extend the current study to evaluate other plant pathogens and fungi in botanical gardens.