Streamlining Global Germplasm Exchange: Integrating Scientific Rigor and Common Sense to Exclude Phantom Agents from Regulation

This collaborative work by over 180 researchers from 40+ countries addresses the challenges posed by "phantom agents"-putative pathogenic agents named in literature without supporting data on their existence. Those agents remain on regulatory lists, creating barriers in trade and plant certification. Historically identified based solely on symptoms, these agents lack isolates or sequence data, making reliable detection or risk assessment impossible. After reviewing over 120 such agents across 10 key plant genera, we recommend their removal from regulatory lists and call for revised standards aligned with modern diagnostics. This effort seeks to streamline germplasm exchange, benefiting global agriculture by removing the constraints imposed by phantoms.

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Publication Details

Journal
Plant Disease
Published
2024-12-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1094/pdis-04-24-0745-fe
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Insect behavior and control techniques
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.24
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article

Streamlining Global Germplasm Exchange: Integrating Scientific Rigor and Common Sense to Exclude Phantom Agents from Regulation

Assunta Bertaccini, Piotr Trębicki, Maher Al Rwahnih, Darko Vončina et al.
6 citations
Plant Disease
Insect behavior and control techniques
3.24
article

Streamlining Global Germplasm Exchange: Integrating Scientific Rigor and Common Sense to Exclude Phantom Agents from Regulation

Assunta Bertaccini, Piotr Trębicki, Maher Al Rwahnih, Darko Vončina, Toru Iwanami, V. K. Baranwal, María Laura García, Wénxìng Xú, Rachid Tahzima, S. Veerakone, Tim Beliën, Nikolaos I. Katis, Luca Nerva, Éva Várallyay, A. Skelton, Weier Cui, Catia Delmiglio, Y. Brans, Nicola Fiore, Ivana Križanac, Dana Šafářová, Sebastjan Radišek, Dilyara Gritsenko, A. Bulajić, Georgios Vidalakis, Mira Starović, Daisy Stainton, Hans J. Maree, E.T.M. Meekes, Z. Perez‐Egusquiza, Nataša Mehle, Andrea Sierra Mejía, Francesco Di Serio, Subhas Hajeri, Ana Belén Ruiz-García, María José Benítez-Galeano, Stefano Panno, Jeremy R. Thompson, D. E. V. Villamor, N. Önelge, Dijana Škorić, Carmine Marcone, Eduardo Sanches Stuchi, Orhan Bozan, D. Valiūnas, Erin M. Thompson, Josef Špak, Matthaios M. Mathioudakis, Rachelle Bester, Fiona Constable, Joe Tang, Salvatore Walter Davino, Armelle Marais, Glynnis Cook, Mark Paul Selda Rivarez, A. Minafra, M. Cieślińska, Susheel Kumar Sharma, R. Schoen, A. Catara, Eduardo Augusto Girardi, P. Svoboda, Thierry Candresse, Igor Koloniuk, Maria Minutolo, K. Djelouah, John da Graça, M Fall, Çiğdem Ulubaş Serçe, Ioannis E. Tzanetakis, Dag‐Ragnar Blystad, Olufemi J. Alabi, A. Fowkes, Qing‐Yi Lu, Pedro Luis Ramos‐González, N. Salem, Jana Fráňová, Nina Aboughanem‐Sabanadzovic, E. Choueiri, V. Isac, Xudong Fan, Pasquale Saldarelli, Juliana Freitas‐Astúa, J. Figueroa, Annelien Roenhorst, Antonio Olmos, Amit Levy, Vanja Miljanić, Massimo Turina, Ajay Brakta, W. Menzel, Pramod W. Ramteke, Irene Lavagi-Craddock, Marc Fuchs, John Hammond, C. J. Barbosa, Kerstin Zikeli, Antonio Ippolito, Dilip K. Ghosh, S. J. Harper, Yafeng Dong, M. C. Vives, René Fuchs, Stephan Winter, Inés Vázquez-Iglesias, Marcel Westenberg, Andreas Gratz, Beatriz Navarro, Ferenc Bagi, Bindu Poudel, Jean-Pierre Thermoz, Robert R. Krueger, F. F. Laranjeira, M. Horner, Tobiasz Druciarek, C. Varveri, Arnaldo Esquivel‐Fariña, Vicken Aknadibossian, Astha Varma, Robert R. Martín, Michael J. Melzer, R. Jordan, Irena Mavrič Pleško, Stuart A. MacFarlane, Yahya Z. A. Gaafar, Alfredo Díaz-Lara, Nelson Arno Wulff, Slavica Matić, D. Alioto, Paolo Margaria, A. Okić, R. K. Yokomi, Thierry Wetzel, Dimitre Mollov, Maria C. Holeva, Sead Sabanadzovic, Turksen Shilts, Vicente Pallás, Miroslav Glasa, Sébastien Massart, Jelena Zindović, Svetlana Y. Folimonova, A.K. Mitra, Grazia Licciardello, Harvinder Bennypaul, Adrian Fox, M. F. Palacios, N. Durán-Vila, Oscar P. Hurtado‐Gonzales, Thiện Hồ, Varvara I. Maliogka, Alba Estela Jofre-y-Garfias, Megan M. Dewdney, Nerida J. Donovan, George W. Wright, Luís Navarro, Somnath K. Holkar, M. Digiaro, Marleen Botermans, M. Tessitori, Eminur Elçi, Nataša Štajner, Baozhong Meng, Avijit Roy, Ubilfrido Vásquez Gutiérrez, Zhibo Hamborg, Pedro Moreno, Shivani Singh, Arnaud G. Blouin, Mohammad Hajizadeh, Fernando Rivas, Jinbo Wang, Habeeb Yinka Atanda, M. Bar‐Joseph, A.M. Kyrychenko, Chunyun Zhou, W. Jelkmann, A. Martić, Bolaji Osundahunsi, Nar B. Ranabhat, G. Sanahuja Solsona, J. Umble, L. Batista Le Riverend, H. Konings
article en
6 citations

Abstract

This collaborative work by over 180 researchers from 40+ countries addresses the challenges posed by "phantom agents"-putative pathogenic agents named in literature without supporting data on their existence. Those agents remain on regulatory lists, creating barriers in trade and plant certification. Historically identified based solely on symptoms, these agents lack isolates or sequence data, making reliable detection or risk assessment impossible. After reviewing over 120 such agents across 10 key plant genera, we recommend their removal from regulatory lists and call for revised standards aligned with modern diagnostics. This effort seeks to streamline germplasm exchange, benefiting global agriculture by removing the constraints imposed by phantoms.

Plant DiseaseVol. 109(4)
University of California, Riverside (US), University of Sarajevo (BA), University of Jordan (JO), Hislop College (IN), Tokyo University of Agriculture (JP), Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (GR), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (US), Magyar Agrár- és Élettudományi Egyetem (HU), Planetary Science Institute (US), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CA), Agricultural Research Service (US), Oregon State University (US), University of Salerno (IT), Plant & Food Research (NZ), Julius Kühn-Institut (DE), University of Hawaii System (US), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (CA), Instituto Biológico (BR), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES), Université de Sherbrooke (CA), Southwest University (CN), Université de Bordeaux (FR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR), University of Ljubljana (SI), James Hutton Institute (GB), Genetic Alliance (US), Warsaw University of Life Sciences (PL), University of Novi Sad (RS), Texas A&M University System (US), Universidad de la República de Uruguay (UY), University of Zagreb (HR), Texas A&M University – Kingsville (US), Niğde Ömer Halisdemir Üniversitesi (TR), Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (BR), Huazhong Agricultural University (CN), Cornell University (US), Caraga State University (PH), Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (IN), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR), Stellenbosch University (ZA), Ministry for Primary Industries (NZ), Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (BE), University of Arkansas System (US), Arizona Western College (US), Florida Department of Citrus (US), New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (AU), University of Kurdistan (IR), University of Florida (US), Agricultural Research Organization (IL), University of Catania (IT), University of Belgrade (RS), Institute for Plant Protection and Environment (RS), Fundo de Defesa da Citricultura (BR), State Education and Research Institute for Viticulture and Pomology Weinsberg (DE), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Cereal Research Centre (IT), 490 BioTech (United States) (US), Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IT), Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie (FR), Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (ES), National Research Centre for Grapes (IN), Linnaeus Plant Sciences (Canada) (CA), Carnegie Department of Plant Biology (US), Jiangsu University of Science and Technology (CN), Slovenian Institute of Hop Research and Brewing (SI), Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology (KZ), Citrus Research Institute (CN), Hop Research Institute (Czechia) (CZ), Agriculture Victoria (AU), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-León (NI), Danylo Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology (UA), Benaki Phytopathological Institute (GR), Istituto Agronomico Mediterraneo di Bari (IT), Instituto de Investigaciones en Fruticultura Tropical (CU), Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Agricultural institute of Slovenia (SI), Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (US), Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NL), Central Citrus Research Institute (IN), Nature Research Centre (LT), Citrus Research International (ZA), Institute of Pomology (CN), U.S. National Arboretum (US), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN), National Institute of Biology (SI), National Quarantine Station (KR), Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NO), Instytut Ogrodnictwa – Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (PL), Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency (HR), Research Centre for Olive Growing and Olive Oil Industry (IT), U.S. Salinity Laboratory (US), International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (IT), Laboratoire de Génétique Cellulaire (FR), National Agricultural Technology Institute (AR), Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LB), Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular (AR), Plant Protection Institute (HU), Institute of Virology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (ES), Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre (CZ), Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IN), Mustafa Kemal University (TR), University of Bari Aldo Moro (IT), Cukurova University (TR), University of Montenegro (ME), Universitat Politècnica de València (ES), University of Chile (CL), Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro (MX), Palacký University Olomouc (CZ), University of Naples Federico II (IT), Washington State University (US), University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US), Leibniz Institute DSMZ – German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DE), University of Guelph (CA), Universidad Nacional de Asunción (PY), Universidad Nacional de La Plata (AR), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), University of Palermo (IT), University of Bologna (IT), Tecnológico de Monterrey (MX), Mississippi State University (US), Macquarie University (AU)
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Insect behavior and control techniques
3.24
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