microbes introduced on exotic plants

Britain’s gardens are under threat from new species of microbes introduced on exotic plants, according to an article in the May 2005 issue of Microbiology Today, the quarterly magazine of the Society for General Microbiology.

The role of increased air travel in spreading exotic human pathogens around the globe has already sparked many debates, but the international trade in garden plants also brings new threats to the UK countryside, as Béatrice Henricot, plant pathologist for the Royal Horticultural Society, explains.

”The demand for cheaply-grown plants and exotic specimens to adorn our outdoor spaces brings with it the risk of introducing new pathogens that may devastate native plant species,” according to Béatrice Henricot.

But, epidemics caused by introduced plant pathogens are not new to the UK and include potato blight in the 19th century, Dutch elm disease in the 1960s and, more recently, the arrival of sudden oak death.

“The volume of plant movement has never been greater and the risk of introducing a new species of plant pathogen that could alter the shape of British gardens forever is at an all-time-high,” says Béatrice Henricot.

A major problem is our inability to value British flora and fauna as an asset to be protected. Also, fungicides tend to suppress pathogens, rather than kill them, and this can hide the symptoms of disease.

“Strict control of plant movements, similar to those for animals, is one way of minimising the risks,” explains Béatrice Henricot. But British consumers could also have an impact on the future of the landscape by carefully choosing what they buy and opting for British grown plants.

Britain is a nation of gardeners, but they may not know what’s going on invisibly in their back yards. This issue of Microbiology Today focuses on microbes in the garden. Pick up a free copy of the magazine at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2005 from the Society’s stand in the Floral Marquee.

Other features in the May 2005 issue of Microbiology Today include:
· The threads that bind: symbiotic fungi in the garden (page 56)
· Bacterial and fungal diseases of garden plants (page 60)
· Soil microbes and the war on garden weeds (page 64)
· ‘Broken’ tulips and tulip breaking virus (page 68)
· Barbecue roulette (page 72)
· Bugs within bugs: symbiotic bacteria in garden insects (page 76)
· Home composting and its role in waste management (page 80)