ARS TECHNICA – A Chinese plant scientist at the University of Michigan, who drew national attention in June 2025 when she was arrested and accused along with another Chinese scientist of smuggling a crop-damaging fungus into the US, pleaded guilty on November 12, 2025, to charges of smuggling and making false statements to the FBI.
Under her plea agreement, Yunqing Jian, 33, was sentenced to time served and expected to be deported.
Her arrest put a spotlight on Fusarium graminearum, a harmful pathogen. But while its risk to grains such as wheat, corn, and rice can be alarming, Fusarium isn’t new to American farmers.
The US Department of Agriculture estimates it costs wheat and barley farmers more than $1 billion a year.
Tom Allen, an extension and research professor of plant pathology at Mississippi State University, explains what Fusarium graminearum is and isn’t.
What is Fusarium graminearum?
Fusarium graminearum is a common fungal plant pathogen that creates problems for farmers across the US.
It causes a disease in barley and wheat called Fusarium head blight, or scab. It can also damage rice and rot corn ears and stalks. In severe cases, scab could cut a farm’s yield by 45 percent.
Scab has been responsible for some of the greatest annual crop losses in the US.
In 2024, estimates from extension and research plant pathologists suggested scab reduced the US wheat crop by approximately 31 million bushels or roughly 2 percent.
When compared with other wheat diseases that harm the head and kernels, scab is by far the most concerning because it occurs across wide areas and affects the crop at advanced growth stages.
Why is Fusarium graminearum a concern?
As a plant pathogen, the fungus responsible for scab produces a mycotoxin in grain that can harm humans and livestock …
