a day in the life... Ann Barnes
Plant Health Scientist Central Science Laboratory, York
Featuring: Ellen Gospel (15)
10.00
Arrived at the Central Science Laboratory, met up with Ann and straightaway was given a white coat to put on! Ann’s official job title is ‘mycology diagnostician’ – luckily she quickly explained what that means in plain English!
In the lab, we looked at some examples of diseased plants. Ann’s job is to find out exactly what type of disease is at work so that the growers can stop it spreading.
11.00
Ann had just been sent some diseased daffodil bulbs - you could see the brown tips on the shoots.
The grower wanted to know what the problem was, so Ann and her colleagues were going to investigate…
Ann showed me how to examine the diseased part of the daffodil shoot under the microscope. She explained that it’s best to look at the very edge of the brown bit on the leaf as that’s where the disease is most active…
Here’s an example of the kind of thing you can see through the microscope…These are called Helminthosporium solani spores. This fungus causes ‘Silver scurf’ on potatoes. (Look at your baking potatoes at home you might be able to see silvery patches on them.)
Ann made notes on what she could see, what disease it could be and whether they’d need to do any more detective work… Here’s what it was.
13.00
Then it was time for lunch.
14.00
After lunch, Anne showed me another way to identify fungi. It's a method called Polymerase Chain Reaction (or PCR for short - phew!).
First of all you have to extract some DNA from the plant.
This tiny bit of DNA is then multiplied up so it can be visualised on an an 'electrophoresis' gel. (That's like a tray of clear jelly with an electric current running through it.)
Here's a photo of a gel... Amazing to think that Ann can read those tiny patterns, and can identify what's causing the disease by comparing them with DNA patterns from other diseases.
Time for a walk!
In the greenhouse they keep plants that have diseases that don't otherwise exist in this country.
These have to be kept in strict quarantine, so the greenhouse is sealed off from the rest of the centre, and all the water is boiled after it is used to kill any nasties that could spread disease…
Being a plant scientist is totally different to anything you do at school, and I had a great day. If you fancy working in a lab then getting this kind of work experience is a great idea!
To find out more about this type of career, check out Ann’s top tips!
What's a 'Mycology Diagnostician' then?!
It sounds impressive… and it is. What Ann does is examine plants which have been sent in with mystery diseases and work out what’s causing the problem - it could be a fungus, or it could be a bacteria or a virus. If it looks either bacterial or viral she will pass the sample onto collegues who specialise in those types of pathogens. The laboratory is sent samples all the time, from farmers and horticulturists worried about their crops. She studies all plants under 4m in height – taller than that, and you need to call for a forestry expert!
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Under the microscope
Using a microscope, you can see features of the fungi that help to identify them such as spores, fruiting bodies and mycelium. These can differ in size, shape and colour.
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Dectective Work
The disease on the daffodil turned out to be ‘Leaf scorch’ (Stagonospora curtisii ).
With this disease, leaf tips become reddish-brown with a yellow border. Eye-shaped spots develop, on which minute fruiting bodies are found. Flowers may become spotted and the crop may die off early.
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Ann’s top tips!
If you fancy a career in plant science, Ann says: “You can start at the bottom with GCSEs and learn on the job. A keen interest in the subject and self-motivation are essential. The other alternative is to study a degree in Biology with either a plant pathology or molecular biology element.
An interest in either horticulture or agriculture is useful too.”
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