Zhihan Xu is a Ph.D student. Her project focuses on a disease known as hosta petiole rot. Her research includes three aspects. The first one is an overwintering survival study of Sclerotium rolfsii and Sclerotium rolfsii var. delphinii, two closely related fungi that have broad host ranges including hosta. She is investigating the possibility of survival of both fungi in the northern U.S. and southeastern U.S. She hopes to resolve whether Sclerotium rolfsii is restricted to warm climates by inability to overwinter in cold climates and whether Sclerotium delphinii is unable to overwinter in the south. The second goal of her research is to develop a rapid, convenient, economical and reliable method to hosta for resistent to hosta petiole rot caused by S. rolfsii var. delphinii. It could help hosta breeders, growers, and marketers cope with petiole rot. The third aspect of her research is to do a thorough phylogenetics analysis of Sclerotium rolfsii and Sclerotium delphinii to determine their relatedness to other phytopathogenic Sclerotium species. Zhihan is from Beijing, China. She likes Chinese tea (for losing weight) . Her hope is to travel around the world. For her career she wants to be a Plant Disease Diagnostician
Professional and Honor Societies
American Phytopathological Society
Education
B.S. in Horticulture, 2001, China Agriculture University. Thesis: “Study of screening vernalization resistance radish varieties”.
M.S. in Horticulture, 2004, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Thesis: “Study on organized-soil substrate selection and quantity of manure and fertilizer of sweet pepper cultivation in greenhouse”
Graduate Research Assistant, Ph.D student in Plant Pathology, from August 2004 to present, Iowa State University.
Publications
Zhihan Xu, Zhibin Zhang, Chaoxing He and Shuangchen Chen. Influence of Organic Soil on the Development of Sweet Pepper in Greenhouse, [J] ShanXi Journal of Agricultural Sciences, No.3, 2004
Chaoxing He, Zhihan Xu and Zhibin Zhang. Organic Soil Cultivation Technology, [J]. Journal of Changjiang Vegetables, No. 12, 2003.
Chaoxing He, Zhibin Zhang, Zhihan Xu, Min Wei and Huaisong Wang. Overwintering Pepper Cultivation Techniques in Greenhouse, China Vegetables, No.2, 2004.