Ka tangi te tītī Ka tangi te kākā Ka tangi hoki ahau
He mihi ki te kaupapa o te tau, he mihi ki ngā tikanga – o kaitiakitanga.
Tihei mauri ora
The Plant kingdom is at the centre of life
on earth.
And you don’t need to look very far to understand
just how vital plant life is to our own existence
and wellbeing.
We know this
But it is easy to take it for granted that forests,
ecosystems and farming practices that have
existed through the ages, will continue as
they always have.
The reality is that exotic pests and diseases
threaten these systems.
Some could have destructive outcomes in very
short order.
In a nutshell, biosecurity is simply this,
to be aware of any potential threats and to
guard against them.
Inside that nutshell, there is a world of
complexity.
A myriad of pests and diseases from around
the world that can completely overwhelm host
plants when they land in a new ecosystem that
has had no opportunity to develop defences.
Bacteria that can decimate industries, viruses
that can make produce inedible, insects that
can destroy harvests, invasive plants that
can smother ecosystems.
New Zealand has a strong biosecurity system.
We consider ourselves a team of 5 million
people watching out for these pests and diseases.
At its heart is our National Plant Protection
Organisation - The Ministry for Primary Industries’
and its Plant Health and Environment Laboratory.
We’d like to invite you to come inside for
a look at our Laboratory
Responding to any biosecurity threat is based on knowing exactly what organism you are dealing with.
Our Diagnostic work relies on expertise in
all aspects of plant health.
It requires tools and techniques from the
straightforward to the highly advanced.
A lot of samples come through these doors.
They come from a wide range of sources, -
from the members of the public, growers, MPI’s border staff, investigators and surveillance programmes
These lead to the laboratory running 30 to
40 thousand tests every year
Being able to import new high value plant
varieties is crucial for horticultural industries.
The high level quarantine facility we operate
- is what allows that to happen.
As an example of how this works, this strawberry
which was imported from the USA, will be inspected
twice a week for over 16 months.
It will undergo a series of diagnostic tests
checking for a long list of regulated pathogens,
often using the nucleic acid based test, the
PCR.
These PCR tests compare the genetic code of
an organism against a known reference to see
if there is a match.
Each test for each pathogen needs to be specifically
developed, many of which have been developed
and validated in our laboratories.
Let’s use an example to take a look at the
strategies, tools and technologies we work
with to protect New Zealand from biosecurity
threats.
One of the world’s most destructive pests
– the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, or BMSB
for short.
Stink bugs are very effective at hiding themselves
in small spaces in luggage or cargo.
Detector dogs are equally effective at finding
them.
But they need training using the actual bugs
and these bugs need to be maintained with
absolutely no risk of an escape.
We maintain them in our high level quarantine
facility.
Next in the link, the Ministry runs a surveillance
programme where traps are set up at 50 high
risk sites around the country.
When a suspect is found it is sent into the
lab for an urgent identification.
If it’s female it can be dissected to see
if it has ever mated or laid eggs.
If it had, that would indicate to the team
that more intensive action needs to be taken.
Our scientists also apply cutting edge technology
to help manage the risk.
We are investigating using Genetic markers
that will allow us to trace where in the world
a stink bug may have come from.
This would give valuable insight to the policy
makers who manage our borders.
High-throughput sequencing is an advanced
molecular diagnostic tool.
Firstly, the Genetic material is extracted
from the bug, then it goes through a process
that reveals it's genomic sequence.
This is what the scientists use to unravel
the hidden genetic information from the BMSB.
It takes all these tools to stop pests like
the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug before they
can take a hold in New Zealand.
High throughput sequencing opens the door
for scientists to answer biological questions
about fungi, bacteria, viruses and insects
that previously could never be answered.
As the National Plant Protection Organisation,
it is important to be at the forefront of
biosecurity science.
That means always looking for opportunities
to improve what we do and how we do it.
And regularly evaluating new technology and
tools and making sure we have the skill to
get value from them.
We provides science advice to government,
primary industries and the general public.
We work together with our counterparts from
other countries and research organisations
and regularly provide science training programmes
nationally as well as around the Asia Pacific
region.
Connecting with such a large community strengthens
both our biosecurity capabilities as well
as theirs.
Our aim is to understand pests and diseases
and have systems in place before they arrive
in New Zealand.
With preparation, the pathogen, insect or
plant can be accurately identified and the
action plan to deal with it can be swung into
place.
The complexity of this work, the technology,
the systems and the expertise, all of this
is focused on one simple objective – to
protect plants and protect life.
