When: 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7
Where: 1907 Dudley Ave., U of M St. Paul campus
Contacts: John Byrnes, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, 612-625-4743
Becky Beyers, College of Food Agricultural and Natural Resource Science, 612-626-5754
Pathogens will be 'locked down' in new U of M quarantine facility
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( -- /-- /2007) -- Researchers will be able to get one step ahead of dangerous pathogens that may damage Minnesota crops and forests by using the tools provided by a new state-of-the-art building on the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus. The Plant Pathology Research Facility will allow scientists to research pests that, if they reach Minnesota, could cause diseases such as Asian soybean rust, sudden oak death and new strains of stem rust on small grains.
The $6 million building will be dedicated at 2:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 1907 Dudley Ave., St. Paul. The facility will be jointly operated by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Speakers will include U of M Regent Dallas Bohnsack, Minnesota Department of Agriculture Assistant Commissioner Robin Kinney and Rob Hanks, president of the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council Growers.
"The University of Minnesota is the only university in the Midwest with this type of research capability. These facilities will serve as a magnet to attract scientists who are driven to discover the best way to help protect plants from deadly disease," said Beverly Durgan, director of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station and dean of the University of Minnesota Extension. "
When licensed by the USDA-APHIS, the facility will be approved as a bio-safety level (BL3) facility and eligible to study a variety of plant diseases. Currently, only three BL3 facilities in the United States are allowed to work with and conduct research on exotic plant pathogens. Special security and air filtration systems in the new facility will ensure the pathogens aren't released into the environment.
Research in the building will focus on plant pathogens that could damage crops or forests if they were introduced to Minnesota. Plant pathogens can be inadvertently spread by wind, travelers, food products or shipping, or deliberately spread to cause economic, political or human health problems.
The Plant Pathology Research Facility will be a final piece of a $24 million plant growth facilities project that includes classrooms, 15,000 square feet of growing space in state-of-the-art greenhouses and an Insect Quarantine Facility. The Insect Quarantine Facility opened in 2003 and allows researchers to analyze the potential usefulness of beneficial insects in the control of soybean aphids, buckthorn, garlic mustard and other pests.
The University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the USDA Forest Service will all use the facility.