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 complaint filed in the Eastern District of Michigan. Jian’s electronics also contained information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, the indictment alleges. Liu, Jian’s boyfriend, works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen, according to the Justice Department.

Federal prosecutors claim that “scientific literature classifies [the pathogen] as a potential agroterrorism weapon,” emphasizing that it is the “of the gravest national security concern.”

But the pathogen, while a concern for the agricultural industry, is not necessarily among the most significant threats the industry faces, plant pathology experts told ABC News.

Breakouts of Fusarium graminearum infections already naturally occur in dozens of U.S. states — basically any state that produces wheat and barley — and has been established in the U.S. for at least 125 years, Caitlyn Allen, a professor emeritus of plant pathology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told ABC News. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture keeps a list of potential agroterrorism agents, and Fusarium graminearum is not on that list, Allen said.

“We’re not talking about something that just got imported from China,” Allen said. “People should not be freaking out.”

Fusarium graminearum is not at the top of the list of concerning pathogens, Gary Bergstrom, a professor emeritus of plant pathology, told ABC News.

“Compared to some other things, I don’t think the risk is as high,” he said. “It’s not zero, but it certainly wouldn’t be as much concern as the accidental or otherwise introduction of some serious diseases that we don’t have now.”

This photo released by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan shows what authorities say are biological pathogens discovered in luggage at the airport in Detroit.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

In order to be considered an agroterrorism threat, prosecutors would have to determine that the Fusarium graminearum samples are more aggressive than local strains, perhaps have different mycotoxin production abilities or more resistance to some of the tools used in the U.S., Bergstrom said.

From a research perspective, scientists are “well-versed” in Fusarium graminearum, Paul Esker, a professor of plant pathology and epidemiology at Penn State University