Research Topics
USDA/ARS, Department of Plant Pathology
Ph.D. (1967) University of Illinois
Research Topics
Research Interests
The projects in my laboratory fall into three groups:
1) Resistant and susceptible soybean cultivars in tissue culture are being used to investigate the response of soybean to the toxin produced by Phialophora gregata (cause of soybean brown stem rot). Clones obtained from a cDNA library from toxin treated soybean cells are being used as probes in RFLP analyses of resistant and susceptible cultivars.
2) Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms in a collection of Phialophora isolates are presently being determined. Phialophora specific DNA probes may prove useful for detection of the organism in soybean plants as well as distinguishing this fungus from other Phialophoras and closely related organisms.
3) We are using soybean tissue culture techniques to evaluate toxins produced by Phialophora isolates for host specificity and to monitor toxin purification. We have shown in previous work that the fungus produces a compound that inhibits photosynthetic electron transport in chloroplasts. The specific compound still needs to be isolated and identified.
Key Words Introduction of DNA into Fungal Cells, Genome Organization/RFLP
Mapping, Plant Cell and/or Tissue Culture, Plant/Pathogen Interactions
Current Research Funding USDA/ARS