How global and local collaboration drives real-world scientific impact

Childhood experience of the hardships faced by farmers has inspired Prof Renuka Attanayake’s pursuit of groundbreaking research into plant pathogens.

Renuka, of the University of Kelaniya(opens in new tab/window), Sri Lanka, is a plant pathologist specializing in crop disease identification and management using molecular biological tools and techniques. She has published numerous articles and won prestigious awards, most recently the 2023 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Women Scientists in the Developing World.

Her desire to support the livelihood of farmers, as well as contributing to agricultural productivity, stems from her upbringing. Her father was a rice farmer who managed to cultivate a paddy field in a new area from nothing. His efforts eventually led to him building his own rice mill and processing factory.

“I witnessed how hard work paid off for him,” Renuka said, “and how important it is to keep working to achieve something.”

Renuka also gained vital insights into the practicalities of farming. This included the haphazard application of chemicals and fertilizers. She explained:

I saw that, regardless of knowing the real disease or cause of a problem, that farmers would often just apply any chemical. I wanted to go into agriculture to help the farming industry and seeing this gave me an interest in pathology specifically.

With a desire to experience scientific practice in another country, Renuka approached professors from around the world and subsequently achieved a scholarship to study at Washington State University(opens in new tab/window) (WSU) in the United States. Here, she gained an MSc and then PhD in Plant Pathology under the supervision of Prof Weidong Chen(opens in new tab/window). She describes how life-changing this was for her career:

In Sri Lanka, we don't have access to the same technology as more scientifically advanced countries — for example, modern molecular biological tools, next-generation DNA sequencing technology. In science, if you have the technology and thinking power, you can do a lot more. This is why my time studying in America was so significant for me as a scientist. It transformed me into who I am today.

In 2013, Renuka returned to Sri Lanka. This opened both great opportunities and certain challenges:

There’s a lot of scientific work that can be done in Sri Lanka, starting from the basics. But it can be frustrating working out how to get things done.

It became clear that improved funding would be a route forward. This soon became a reality when she received the JANE award from the American Phytopathological Society(opens in new tab/window). The funding was designated for scientists returning to developing countries to work on the potato pathogen Phytophthora infestans (late blight). It was of enormous importance for the research work:

Thanks to the funding, I could go on field visits, collect samples and get the chemicals needed. Because the award allowed freedom of how to direct spend, I could also hire a student and pay her a stipend.

A remarkable hidden discovery

This work was instrumental in establishing Renuka as a scientist. It also led to an astonishing discovery. While conducting research in the central Nuwara Eliya region of Sri Lanka, renowned for vegetable growing, the team found a “beautiful rotting cabbage.” There was an instant moment of recognition:

The pathogen of the rotten cabbage was the same as I had been working on for my PhD — Sclerotina sclerotiorum, also known as cabbage white mold. I realized it had not been reported before on cabbage in Sri Lanka.

This discovery led to her application for a new research grant for further work on Sclerotina sclerotiorum, received in 2015 from the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka(opens in new tab/window). This pathogen is particularly troubling for farmers as the signs of infection remain hidden inside the healthy cabbage leaves until time of harvest. Renuka observed farmers were then leaving the rotten cabbage in the field, with dire consequences:

That rotten cabbage is a breeding ground for many, many of the same pathogen. The pathogen structure can survive in the soil for nearly eight years until they find another host. It's very devastating.

Creating real-world impact among farmers

The findings of this work were published by Renuka and her team in a 2017 article in Plant Disease: First Report of White Mold Caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on Cabbage in Sri Lanka(opens in new tab/window). As important as it was to communicate the findings with the broader scientific community, they are not the only ones who needed to know about it. Critically, farmers also needed to be aware of the issue and solutions for the research if it was to have real-world impact.

For the findings on cabbage white mold, Renuka and the team had to combat the existing belief among farmers that the source of the disease was an insect. Farmers had been erroneously treating the fungus with insecticide, which is both expensive and ineffective.

Renuka credits of her postgraduate students for helping disseminate the information among local farmers:

We wanted to communicate good, hygienic practice, including new techniques on anaerobic soil disinfestation. My student Hasith Priyashantha and the Kelaniya University media unit have been fantastic at translating the work into small newspaper articles in clear, local language.

They also had support from Kp Somachnadra(opens in new tab/window), Director [A1] of Research in the Department of Agriculture, and Prof CSK Rajapakse(opens in new tab/window) of the Department of Chemistry, who helped bring the knowledge to farmers. This collaboration has been important, as the farming community in Sri Lanka is composed of a vast number of small-scale holdings. Local media and local government support combined has been invaluable to share findings on a broad scale.

Renuka reports pleasing progress from the farming community, along with continued work to be done:

When I talk to farmers about this pathogen, they usually say they now know this is a fungus. We have seen that change happening, but not in everybody. In Sri Lanka, farmers often change the crop they are growing. So there needs to be an ongoing message that passes from farmer to farmer and clearly highlights the importance of scientific research work to the development of the Global South.

Findings with global implications

Renuka’s research into Sclerotinia sclerotiorum has far-reaching global potential beyond cabbage farming in Sri Lanka. She observes:

This pathogen can potentially infect more than 400 crop species — beans, potatoes, almost anything in the dicotyledon family. It's a beautiful pathogenic lesson! The treatment we tried in Sri Lanka is the first time this was tried in a tropical country and now this same approach can apply across the world.

The team discovered that, astonishingly, the pathogen was able to do something akin to sexual reproduction. But for this finding, she required help from her previous adviser at Washington State University:

We used molecular data to detect this remarkable finding. I sent the sample to Washington, because we do not have the required technology to do it in Sri Lanka.

Balanced collaboration

This illustrates one of the challenges for scientists working in countries without access to advanced scientific technology. On how the global scientific community can best work together to address this imbalance, Renuka comments:

I always believe we need good global scientific communication and collaboration. In the Global South especially, we do need some help. Things like technology and chemicals are expensive, especially with dollar fluctuations.

She believes a collaborative approach can and should work equally for all parties, based on personal experience of successful partnerships:

I have had some great collaborators for my work, from India and the UK as well as from America. It’s always two-way work, each taking their part. It’s a balanced system.

With the gaining visibility of her team’s research, commercial-scale growers have started sending them samples for disease diagnostics. In the photo at the top of this article, Renuka and members of her research team are examining strawberry plants from a grower that had lost 50% of their crop. Renuka said the grower learned of their work after she won the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award: “That gave me visibility, and I could better utilize our knowledge and skills,” she said, adding that that included training students, particularly women.

She believes that the visibility also helped her secure further funding for research on polyethylene degradation from international organizations like TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences)(opens in new tab/window) and ICGEB (the International Centre for Engineering and Biotechnology)(opens in new tab/window).

What’s next?

Her next plan is to create a disease diagnostics clinic in the university so the farming community has easy access to the latest knowledge:

My dream is to have my own laboratory at the university that functions 24-7 when the need arises to provide this service to a wider community.