LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Two Chinese researchers have been charged with smuggling a fungus known to be a “potential agroterrorism weapon” into the U.S. with the alleged intent of studying it at the University of Michigan, authorities said Tuesday.
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said in a release.
Jian was taken into federal custody in Detroit while Liu is believed to be in China.
Liu, according to a criminal complaint, initially lied about why the fungus, Fusarium graminearum, was brought into the U.S. He later admitted to smuggling the fungus to research it at a laboratory at the University of Michigan, where Jian worked and he previously worked.
Fusarium graminearum causes a disease called Fusarium head blight that can wipe out cereal crops such as wheat, barley and maize and rice. It inflicts $1 billion in losses annually on U.S. wheat and barley crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It isn’t the only fungus to cause Fusarium head blight, but it’s the most common culprit in the U.S. The fungus infects plants early in the growing season, shriveling wheat grains and blanching crop heads a whitish-tan color. It also causes a toxin to accumulate in wheat kernels that can make them unsafe for people and livestock to eat.
The complaint reports Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on this pathogen in China. Investigators said they found information about Jian’s loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. Liu researches the same pathogen in China.
“The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals — including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party — are of the gravest national security concerns. These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a ‘potential agroterrorism weapon’ into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme,” said Gorgon.
This case is still under investigation, United States Attorney Gorgon reports.
Although Jian and Liu are accused of smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the country, the fungus is already prevalent in the U.S. — particularly in the east and Upper Midwest — and scientists have been studying it for decades.
Researchers often bring foreign plants, animals and even strains of fungi to the U.S. to study them, but they must file certain permits before moving anything across state or national borders. Studying the genes of a foreign fungus strain, for example, can help scientists learn how it tolerates heat, resists pesticides or mutates.
“We look at variations among individuals just like we do humans,” said Nicole Gauthier, a plant pathologist at the University of Kentucky who studies Fusarium.
That said, it’s unclear why the Chinese researchers might have wanted to bring that strain of Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. and why they didn’t fill out the proper paperwork to do so.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.