Collaboration for Plant Pathogen Strain Identification (CPPSI) Fund

CPPSI is a science-based, vegetable seed industry initiative developed to standardize the identification of plant pathogens at the strain or race level. To do this, CPPSI provides sets of host differentials, reference pathogens, and inoculation procedures validated by seed industry professionals. These materials are a valuable resource for industry, government, and academic research alike.

Donated funds will facilitate the continued growth of this initiative and ability to store and provide the materials. CPPSI is housed at the UC Davis Seed Biotechnology Center.

History of CPPSI

Although the consistent naming of plant pathogen strains and races has been a recognized need in industry and academia for some time, there has been no recognized global body that regulates the naming of plant pathogen strains. Consequently, a US-based effort was initiated in 2007 by the International Seed Federation (ISF) in partnership with the American Phytopathological Society (APS) and the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), to address this issue. An APS ad Hoc Committee was formed to achieve this goal with a focus on disease systems for which claims of disease resistance are made by the seed industry. After a US-based system was defined and four pilot differential host sets developed and launched in 2012 and 2013, the initiative took the name of the Collaboration for Plant Pathogen Strain Identification (CPPSI). Currently CPPSI provides materials for 8 different pathosystems with 12+ in development.

As Director of CPPSI, Dr. Kelley Clark coordinates the development, distribution and administration of new and current differential host sets, reference plant pathogens, and informative white papers. In addition, she collaborates with similar initiatives globally including the ISF, Asia Pacific Seed Association (ASPA), and others for harmonization of efforts.