University of Illinois Extension and the Illinois Department of Agriculture are collaborating on a new project that will improve the ability to rapidly diagnose Asian soybean rust and other plant diseases in Illinois. Although Illinois growers escaped any serious problems from Asian soybean rust during 2005, the disease remains a major cause for concern during the upcoming growing season.

This joint project will significantly upgrade the Digital Distance Diagnostics Imaging System, which is already in use at Extension offices around the state of Illinois. This Internet-based tool enables plant pathologists at the U of I to analyze leaf samples dropped off at any of one of the 95 Extension offices without leaving their lab.

"The system started as a pilot project in 1999 and was expanded statewide a year later," said Dennis Bowman, crop systems educator with U of I Extension and coordinator of the project. "It uses cameras to snap digital photos of plant samples under a microscope. The photos then are posted on a secure website, where a pathologist examines them and decides whether the samples should be delivered to the U of I Plant Clinic for testing."

Bowman notes that the system has proven its ability to rapidly diagnose biologic farm and home problems.

"The one drawback has been the limitations of some of the original equipment," Bowman said. "Although the microscopes remain functional, the cameras have become technologically obsolete, and the low resolution of the images they capture limits the system's potential. This project will replace the outdated equipment with state-of-the-art cameras, adapters, memory cards and memory card readers."

The cost to upgrade equipment in all of the county field offices will amount to $93,000. Extension has contributed $36,000 to the project. The Illinois Department of Agriculture will pay the rest with a $57,000 Homeland Security grant it received from the Illinois Terrorism Task Force.

"This upgrade is essential to help protect our valuable soybean crop," Agriculture Director Chuck Hartke said. "Asian soybean rust is a deadly, wind-borne fungus that can cause considerable financial losses if it goes undetected. The Distance Diagnostics System gives us the ability to quickly screen suspect plants and provide an early warning to farmers if rust is ever diagnosed so they can promptly begin treating their fields."

Bowman notes that samples can be submitted at county Extension unit offices throughout the state.

"This is essentially an online plant clinic that allows us to screen samples for any potential signs of the disease," he said. "If the screening appears suspect, the plant sample will be submitted to the U of I Plant Clinic. Once the sample arrives there, it can be further tested to confirm the presence of the disease."

As part of the project, the Illinois Soybean Association, through the soybean checkoff, has agreed to pay the fees for any samples that originate at the local Extension offices and are passed along for further testing by the U of I Plant Clinic.

In addition to this effort, U of I Extension has a wide range of specific soybean rust information for Illinois available on the Internet at http://soyrust.cropsci.uiuc.edu/index.cfm