Plant-Pathogenic Bacteria as Biological Weapons – Real Threats?

At present, much attention is being given to the potential of plant pathogens, including 3 plant pathogenic bacteria, as biological weapons/bioterror weapons. These two terms are 4 sometimes used interchangeably and there is need for care in their application. It has been 5 claimed that clandestine introduction of some plant pathogenic bacteria could cause such crop 6 losses as to impact so significantly on a national economy as to constitute a threat to national 7 security. As a separate outcome, it is suggested that they could serious public alarm, perhaps 8 constituting a source of terror. Legislation is now in place to regulate them as biological 9 weapons but it is highly doubtful if any plant pathogenic bacterium has the requisite 10 capabilities. Even if they were so capable, the differentiation of pathogens into a special 11 category with regulations that are even more restrictive than those currently applied in 12 quarantine legislation of most jurisdictions offers no obvious benefit. Such regulations are 13 disadvantageous insofar as they limit research on precisely those pathogens most in need of 14 study. Some human and animal pathogens may have potential as biological weapons or 15 bioterror weapons but it is unlikely that any plant pathogenic bacterium realistically falls into 16 these categories.