Researchers at Iowa State received a $900,000 federal grant to develop new techniques for detecting diseases carried by plant seeds.

The university will be participating in a four-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will be collaborating on the project with the University of Georgia and Clemson University.

Iowa State will be the lead institution in the collaboration because of its reputation, said Manjit Misra, director of the Seed Science Center on campus.

“There are a number of diseases that can be carried by a seed,” Misra said. “Currently, our seeds go through a very high quality control process before they are marketed.”

Despite Iowa State’s thoroughness in seed testing, the project is expected to develop even more precise methods to be used at the DNA level, Misra said.

“It will be a universal approach that can be used for any disease,” Misra said. “Seedborne diseases are not a big problem right now, but if they do become a problem, it will really hurt our exports.”

Even though there isn’t a significant threat from seedborne diseases, research into developing detection of the diseases is important because many countries could decide not to buy seeds from the United States simply out of fear.

“If we can verify there is no disease in the seeds, then countries will not be so reluctant,” Misra said.

The United States’ seed industry is the best in the world, Misra said, exporting 800 million seeds every year.

Quality control is ensured by taking a sample of seeds from every seed lot, or batch of seeds, and testing them.

The diseased seeds are either removed or the entire batch is disposed of, Misra said.

“We will develop this new technique that can be used to establish new standards for movement of seeds around the world,” Misra said. “So, this is a global project because seeds are moved from country to country.”

This new method also will be beneficial for local farmer she said.

“Iowa is one of the leading states in seed production,” Misra said. “This process will help the economic development of Iowa and its producers.”

The system also can be used to detect genetically modified organisms, Misra said.

Genetically modified organisms change the genetic makeup of a seed to be resistant to certain herbicides or pesticides, said Lisa Shepherd, research associate for the Seed Science Center-Experiment Station.

“With this new method, we can detect seeds with these traits and tell the percentage of GMOs present,” Shepherd said.

The organisms can be either good or bad, Shepherd said. They can be good out in the field, but some countries overseas don’t allow them into food products, she said.

With this new method, researchers can test for a number of diseases and genetically modified organisms at the same time rather than individually, Shepherd said.