The University of Michigan campus is shown in Ann Arbor, Mich. STOCK IMAGE/Getty Images

The biological pathogen federal authorities accuse two Chinese nationals of smuggling into the U.S. can be concerning for farming communities but was not likely an act of "agroterrorism," according to plant pathology experts.

Two citizens of the People's Republic of China -- Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34 -- were arrested for allegedly bringing a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, a plant pathogen, into the U.S. through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on this pathogen in China and apparently intended to bring it to a laboratory at the University of Michigan, according to a criminal compl

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