Recommendations to policy makers from the Euphresco project VirusCollect II
The following research project has recently been carried out in the framework of Euphresco (network for phytosanitary research coordination and funding – hosted by EPPO). The report presenting the main objectives and results of this project, as well as recommendations made to policy makers, can be viewed on the Internet.
VirusCollect II: building an international network of reference collections for regulated and other important plant viruses and viroids
The aim of the VirusCollect II project was to establish and extend an international network of collections of plant viruses and viroids by making isolates available for reference to diagnostic and research laboratories working in plant health. The transfer of Q-bank to EPPO has been considered crucial for the public accessibility of virus and viroid isolates. The VirusCollect II consortium noted that the implementation of the Nagoya protocol increased the administrative obligations of both curators and users of collection materials. To enable NPPO laboratories to fulfil their duties, it is recommended that governments strengthen the infrastructure for plant virus and viroid collections by providing allocated budgets for the characterisation and maintenance of virus and viroid isolates.
Authors: Roenhorst A, Gentit P, Visage M, Menzel Wulf, Winter S, Lacomme C, Nisbet, C, Nyerges K, Krizbai L, van der Vlugt R, Shneyder Y, Mehle N, Ravnikar M, Linhartova S.
Duration of the project: from 2016-10-01 to 2018-10-01.
Report: https://zenodo.org/record/2628398#.XKYXLpgzbct
Sources
Euphresco (2019-04). https://www.euphresco.net/projects/