Management of Plant Pathogen Collections

Canberra: Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, 2005. — 82 pp.
ISBN 0-9751686-6-5.This handbook on the management of plant pathogen collections was commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). Its purpose was to provide a reference for countries in the Southeast Asian region seeking to build specimen-based pest lists for plant diseases, to facilitate international trade in agricultural commodities.
This handbook provides a summary of methods and techniques used in all disciplines of plant pathology, and includes information on the major groups of economically important pathogens, methods for collecting specimens in the field, growth media, isolation and preservation of specimens, as well as information and tips on how to manage a herbarium and a culture collection.Contents:
Introduction.
International obligations.
The status of biological collections in ASEAN countries.
The importance of specimen-based records.
Building and populating plant disease herbaria in ASEAN countries.
Plant pathogen collections.
Herbaria.
Culture collections.
Pest lists.
How to establish collections.
Populating a collection.
Collection of specimens from the field.
Handling specimens.
Labelling specimens.
Surveys and sampling.
How to examine specimens.
Staining fungi and bacteria.
Light microscopy.
Photography.
How to isolate fungi, bacteria and nematodes in the laboratory.
Isolation of fungi.
Isolation of bacteria.
Isolation of nematodes.
Growth media.
How to preserve and store specimens.
Herbarium specimens.
Cultures.
How to identify pathogens.
Fungi.
Bacteria.
Phytoplasmas.
Viruses and viroids.
Nematodes.
Diagnostic techniques.
How to maintain specimen records.
Databases.
Care of collections.
Herbarium facilities.
Control of herbarium beetles.
Control of culture mites.
Loans.
Security.
Selected literature.
General.
Fungi.
Bacteria.
Phytoplasmas.
Viruses.
Nematodes.