BAC-STOP Research in Action

Ever wondered what plant pathologists actually do all day? What kinds of experiments they do and the kinds of equipment they use? The BAC-STOP project have made some great films to document their research into the causes of Acute Oak Decline. These films were created by Summer Isle Films with funding from BBSRC, The Scottish Government, NERC, Defra.

In this first video the team are out in the forest collecting soil, leaf and bark samples. These samples are catalogued and stored to take back to the laboratory for further analysis. It also shows team members working in the Forest Research mobile laboratory van. They are checking and preparing beetle eggs and other treatments and then inoculating trees to monitor disease progress.

In these videos the team are innoculating trees with bacteria to study how disease symptoms develops. They are trying to find out if Acute Oak Decline (AOD) develops more quickly in trees that are drought or nutrient stressed. The mobile laboratory is well equipped so the team can work with bacterial cultures and beetle larvae.

And now, back in the lab the team are ready to do foliage analysis. To analyse the chemical composition of the leaves they are counted, prepared, weighed and dried. Once dried they are ground down to a fine powder ready for further analysis. Meanwhile a sample of leaves are also analysed visually. Examining the shape and size of the leaves can provide useful imformation about the trees’ health.

The team are creating other videos as the research develops – stay tuned!