Photo courtesy of M B. Herman
Graduate students planting tomatoes.
Plant Plant pathologists are united in a common goal of improving human welfare through the management of plant diseases. Today’s challenges are magnified by the ease of intercontinental trade and the constant threat of introduction of new plant pathogens as well as the re-emergence of indigenous plant pathogens in response to changes in climate, agricultural practices, and genetic shifts in pathogen populations. The mitigation of plant diseases requires accurate and timely diagnosis; an in-depth understanding of pathogen biology, ecology, epidemiology and population biology; and integrated control strategies that are efficacious, economical, safe, and sustainable. Research in plant pathology encompasses all major pathogen groups and spans the continuum from fundamental to translational research, from laboratory to field settings, and from the organismal to population levels of biological organization. The Plant Pathology Program has four activity areas, which are described below.
Biology and Ecology of Plant Pathogens
Faculty programs employ cutting-edge technologies in field and/or laboratory studies that are on the frontier of biological and ecological science, while at the same time providing information that improves disease management programs. Several programs focus on the biology and ecology of pathogenic microbes in the context of a particular plant commodity while others are focused on the properties of particular taxa of microbes. We investigate pathogen life histories, environmental and nutritional influences on growth and differentiation, survival and fitness, colonization, reproduction, and dissemination of pathogen propagules. We have notable programmatic strengths in soil health and rhizosphere ecology, phyllosphere biology, and aerobiology that cut across commodity orientation and pathogen taxa.
Epidemiology and Population Biology of Plant Pathogens
These are closely related subdisciplines in plant pathology that focus on quantitative dynamics and evolutionary genetics of pathogen populations, respectively, and together they provide fundamental information for disease management. In support of disease forecasting efforts, some faculty members are exploring quantitatively how weather and other environmental factors affect disease development and host/pathogen interactions. Others develop simulation models of epidemics or they study pathogen dispersal and disease spread at short- and long-distance scales. Population genetics is studied to gain understanding of the evolutionary forces acting on pathogen populations, their introductions and migrations, and the role of recombination by sexual reproduction in their epidemiology.
Etiology, Diagnosis and Management of Plant Diseases
Department faculty members conduct cutting-edge research on the detection and diagnosis of plant pathogens in all pathogen groups and they make major contributions to agricultural biosecurity in the Northeast and the nation. Faculty members conduct fundamental research on genetic, cultural, biological, and chemical disease control methods and they integrate these into practical strategies for economically and environmentally sustainable disease management in cropping systems. Applied research on disease management is conducted in a commodity context. Department programs are focused on disease management in pome fruits, vegetables, potatoes, field crops, trees and ornamental plants. This research is interdisciplinary in collaboration with other plant production and plant protection scientists.
International Agriculture
While plant diseases are important constraints to crop production in New York and the United States, they are even more devastating to farmers in developing countries. Some faculty members conduct research with a focus on plant disease issues of relevance to resource-poor farmers in developing countries. Many faculty members participate in international research collaborations, and a large number of international students and postdoctorals participate in plant pathology research. See more about International Agriculture.
Faculty affiliated with the Plant Pathology program
Steven Beer—Molecular genetics and mechanisms of pathogenicity of Erwinia amylovora; biological control of fire blight and other diseases by bacteria.
Gary Bergstrom—Biology, epidemiology, and integrated management of diseases of wheat, corn, soybean, forage legumes, and biofuel feedstock crops.
Samuel Cartinhour—Analysis of regulatory mechanisms and gene expression networks in Pseudomonas syringae.
Alan Collmer—Molecular phytobacteriology and microbial genomics.
William Fry—Biology of oomycetes and management of disease they cause (with emphasis on Phytophthora infestans).
David M. Geiser—Molecular evolutionary genetics and systematics of fungi, especially / Fusarium/ and /Aspergillus (Adjunct Faculty, Penn State)
Donna M. Gibson—Discovery of microbial metabolites and the roles they may play in pathogenicity, virulence, defense, or growth and development (Adjunct Faculty, USDA - ARS)
Stewart Gray—The biology of plant virus - insect vector interactions, virus diseases of potato and grain crops, virus disease management and epidemiology.
Kathie Hodge—Systematics and ecology of pathogenic and symbiotic fungi, especially those that are pathogens of insects. Director of the Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium.
George Hudler—Epidemiology and management of diseases of woody ornamentals and Christmas trees.
Sondra Lazarowitz—Molecular mechanisms in virus-host interactions; molecular genetics of plant-virus movement and host resistance to virus infection; intra- and intercellular communications in plants.
Kwangwon Lee—Characterizing light and clock regulations in fungi and their roles in pathogenic plant-microbe interactions using genomics, quantitative genetics and molecular biology tools.
James Lorbeer—Diseases of vegetable crops, biology of plant pathogenic fungi, chemical and biological control of plant diseases.
Rosemary Loria—Host-pathogen interactions; molecular genetic analysis of pathogenicity determinants.
Gregory Martin—Elucidation of the molecular basis of recognition specificity displayed by disease resistance gene products and bacterial avirulence proteins
Margaret McGrath—Diseases of vegetable crops, integrated pest management, fungicide resistance, epidemiology, powdery mildew, Phytophthora, air pollutants
Michael Milgroom—Population biology and evolution of plant pathogens; the integration of population biology and plant disease epidemiology.
Eric Nelson—Ecology and development of oomycetes in the spermosphere and rhizosphere with special emphasis on plant pathogenic Pythium species. Of special interest is understanding how microbial interactions and plant associations influence Pythium development and pathogenesis.
Rebecca Nelson—The genetics of quantitative disease resistance; international agriculture. We currently focus on two diseases of maize that are important both in the US and in Africa: northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot.
P.F. Palukaitis—Adjunct Faculty, Scotland
Teresa Pawlowska—Biology and evolution of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (phylum Glomeromycota).
Keith Perry—Cucumber mosaic virus and its vector transmission, pathogen diagnostics technologies, and potato viruses; Director of the NYS Foundation Potato Seed Program and the Uihlein Laboratory and Farm
Xiaohong Wang—Molecular basis of plant-nematode interactions, host resistance to the potato cyst nematodes.
Thomas Zitter —Diseases of vegetables, integrated pest management, ecology and epidemiology of foliar pathogens, epidemiology and control of virus diseases.