PROFILE

NIBIO, Biotechnology and Plant Health Division has Norway’s most comprehensive competence concerning plant health and plant protection in agriculture and forestry. Both commercial and public interests benefit from this knowledge. We have specialised competence within diagnostics, biology, mapping and management of plant diseases, pests and weeds. Furthermore, our fields of expertise include pesticide chemistry, genetics and biotechnology, aquatic and terrestrial bio prospecting, and algae and plants used for other purposes than food. Some of these fields of competence go beyond the traditional plant protection subjects. The Division is commissioned by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food within the fields of pesticide-, forestry and plant protection. We are a national reference laboratory for pesticide analysis and plant pest organisms. We also run a network of meteorological stations in agricultural areas in Norway, which primarily supplies data to NIBIOs projects, but also to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and other institutes. Our activities on genetics of brown bears are mainly commissioned by the Norwegian Environment Agency. International co-operation is given high priority. The Division has a large portfolio nationally and its international portfolio has had a steady increase over the most recent years. Our multi-national scientific staff is actively involved in numerous networks and international projects worldwide. Most of the staff is located at Campus Ås, just outside Oslo. We have, however, also staff at Grimstad (in the southern part of Norway), at Særheim and Ullensvang (on the Norwegian west coast), Stjørdal (central Norway), and Bodø, Tromsø and Svanhovd (northernmost parts of Norway). Finally, the Division has also associated prominent researchers at international research institutes in Europe and the US in part time positions.

ROLE IN THE PROJECT

Concerning ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus, Hp) we will, in close collaboration with Forest Research (UK), investigating the role of seed borne inoculum for this disease. We will test seeds collected from infected trees, and compare with presumably healthy seeds collected prior to the ash dieback epidemic (provided by the Norwegian Forest Seed Center and a collection at Nibio). We will also carry out seed treatment experiments against Hp with hot water, fungicide and thyme oil. For Phytophthora spp. (Phy) we will survey selected waterways and urban forest stands for Phytophthora spp. We will have focus on areas where garden waste has been deposited. Furthermore, we will provide Norwegian isolated for genetic analyses, carry out pathogenicity tests and actively participate in dissemination of obtained results.

NIBIO will be involved in the following work packages: WP1, WP2, WP3, WP4, WP8, WP9, WP10, WP11

STAFF

• RAFOSS TROND
• TALGØ VENCHE