47 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2026 • TRAINING AND EDUCATION AN ISTA SEED HEALTH WORKSHOP WITH A FOCUS ON MYCOLOGY METHODS was held in June this year, hosted by the SGS Canada laboratory in Edmonton. The workshop was comprised of three different topics all related to mycology. In the first two days, two rules from Chapter 7 of the International Rules for Seed Testing (ISTA Rules) were covered extensively in both theory and practice, with the aim to familiarise the participants with the execution and give them tips and tricks for best practice. The third day was entirely full of lectures covering topics such as how to validate a mycology method and how to set up and organise a Comparative Test (CT) or Proficiency Test (PT). The workshop closed with a session on the use of molecular tools and the options for integrating these into routine testing. Alongside the well- sequenced order of these topics, sessions on the green laboratory and the ISTA Seed Health Test Image Database also had a position in the workshop programme. On the first day, the ten participants from different laboratories in Canada, Hawaii and Sweden, after an introduction by the lecturers, enjoyed a lecture by ISTA Seed Health Committee (SHC) Vice-Chair Stephan Brière, on bacterial bunt in wheat seed. After walking the participants through the history, infection cycle and impact this pest has on wheat production in Northern America, the various subspecies of smut, scientifically known as Tilletia spp., were introduced with different morphological appearances for each. Later, Stephan talked about the range of testing approaches of the ISTA rule (currently under validation) for detection of the different Tilletia spp. in wheat seed. The practical session that followed brought the participants into action. All were suited in special edition ISTA workshop laboratory coats and started with the execution of their own extractions of the bacteria from seed subsamples in the laboratory. Final detection was done using microscopy. On day two, SHC’s youngest member Nicole Calliou was given the task to present the various ISTA Workshop on Seed Health Testing: a deep dive into mycology method execution and validation 15–17 June 2026, Edmonton, Canada Ruud Barnhoorn ISTA Seed Health Committee Chair Participants and lecturers on the ISTA Workshop on Seed Health Testing in Edmonton, Canada in June 2026 detection methods for Ustilago nuda, also known as ‘bacterial smut’ on barley seed. Nicole lectured the participants on three different detection methods: first ISTA Rule 7-013a; second ISTA Rule 7-013b; and lastly the method used by the Canadian Food and Agriculture Inspection service (CFAI). The differences between the methods mainly have to do with staining of the embryos after they have been extracted from the barley seed. Via microscopy, each participant picked the method most suitable for them in detecting Ustilago nuda. Method validation and the use of molecular techniques were the topics on the agenda for day three. In the morning Ruud Barnhoorn (SHC Chair) was on the stage to give a session on how to validate a seed health method. All the ISTA seed health methods require performance characteristics: analytical specificity, analytical sensitivity, selectivity, repeatability, reproducibility, robustness and diagnostic performance. These characteristics were highlighted and an explanation of an experimental set-up was given for each of them.
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