Congratulations to Brian Freeman and the Beattie lab, Brian's MPMI paper will be featured on the the cover of next months APS Journal.

Read more here, http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/page/mpmi_cover_7-09

Congratulations to Mark Gleason and Daren Mueller on publishing their beautiful new book "Diseases fo Herbacious Perennials" through APS Press.

You can learn more (and order it) at the following link: http://www.shopapspress.org/diofhepe1.html
 
 
 
 

DES MOINES – Following the discovery of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) just across the Mississippi River from the Iowa-Wisconsin border, members of the Iowa Emerald Ash Borer Team today highlighted steps being taken to prevent an infestation in Iowa and detect the beetle if it is in the state. EAB is an invasive beetle that feeds on ash trees and eventually kills them.

AMES, Iowa -- As a major food source for much of the world, rice is one of the most important plants on earth.

Keeping it safe from disease has become, in part, the task of a group of three researchers from Iowa State University and one from Kansas State University.

The researchers are looking at two bacterial diseases of rice. The most costly is bacterial blight of rice, which is caused by a bacterium called Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae, and can diminish yield by up to 50 percent. 

Gary Munkvold, plant pathology professor, is highlighted in the most recent research video. Munkvold researches diseases that affect the production and utilization of seeds and the management of mycotoxigenic fungi in corn. Munkvold is the Seed Science Center Endowed Chair and chair of the Graduate Program in Seed Technology and Business. The research videos highlight the role Iowa State plays in scientific and technological advances in agriculture, life sciences and related fields.

In the March issue of MPMI, Hu et al. use virus-induced gene silencing and overexpression to modulate three genes of secondary metabolism in barley. Their results show that plant secondary metabolites derived from the shikimate pathway are important for penetration resistance. Read more in Functional Contribution of Chorismate Synthase, Anthranilate Synthase, and Chorismate Mutase to Penetration Resistance in Barley-Powdery Mildew Interactions.

Congratulations to Brita Kilburg and Forrest Nutter!

Brita Kilburg received national recognition in the U.S. Department of Energy's Science and Energy Challenge. She received a third-place award in the Environmental Sciences Division of the competition.

Gary Munkvold, plant pathology and Seed Science Center Endowed Chair, has been appointed chair of the Graduate Program in Seed Technology and Business (STB). Read More!

Dr. Jeffrey D. Bradshaw recently received his Ph.D. from Iowa State University in entomology and plant pathology. He was co-advised by Dr. Marlin Rice and Dr. John Hill. Jeff’s research involved work on the bean leaf beetle, Cerotoma trifurcata (Chrysomelidae), and Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) biology and management.

AMES, Iowa — Identifying genes essential for the soybean plant’s defense against three major diseases will be the aim of a new $2.1 million research project led by Iowa State University.

“We expect that information resulting from the research will help improve soybean cultivars for disease resistance by accelerating plant breeding programs and by enabling the engineering of new disease resistance traits,” said Steve Whitham, associate professor of plant pathology.