The Waikato University masters student was awarded the $22,000 Don Llewellyn Scholarship for her research to determine whether the pathogen causing root rot disease in avocado was building up resistance to the fungicide used to protect the trees.
The fungicide phoshpite used to manage the disease was used widely across all agricultural sectors for disease management and was being tested for use protecting kauri and pine.
“Shannon’s results will not only be important for the vibrant and expanding avocado industry, they will be useful for understanding the threat of loss of control of several other Phytophthora pathogens affecting the agricultural sector,” her supervisor Associate Professor of biological sciences Mike Clearwater said.
A microbiology course during Shannon’s undergraduate degree sparked her interest in plant pathology.
A summer placement at Rotorua Crown research institute Scion, working in the forest protection team saw her complete a short research project that made her want to continue working in plant pathology research.
Hunter was gathering samples from six Bay of Plenty avocado orchards to support her research.
With New Zealand having used phosphite to manage avocado root rot for over 25 years it provided an excellent model to study fungicide resistance.
Her project involved collaboration with the Avocado Industry Research Council and Phytophthora experts Dr Peter Scott and Dr Rebecca McDougal at Scion.
The scholarship would fund a research trip to the United States to work with University of California, Riverside, researchers to test their cultures from avocado orchards and the University of California, Berkeley, to test other important species for phosphite resistance.
Hunter hoped her research would be useful for informing the sustainable use of phosphite for industries reliant on it for disease management, ensuring its effectiveness into the future.
