The research programs in the Department of Plant Pathology ensure the economic viability of agriculture, the largest sector of Georgia’s economy, and contribute to national and global food security through reduction in crop losses. Equally important, our research increases the understanding of basic biology through new discoveries on pathogen biology, resistance genetics and host-pathogen interactions.
Research conducted in the Department of Plant Pathology is impactful, both within the state and across its boundaries. For example, estimated reductions in crop losses associated with departmental activities are typically in the range of $200 to $250 million annually, representing a direct gain to the economy.
The department is recognized internationally for its comprehensive and integrative research portfolio, spanning basic, translational and applied programs. The breadth and depth of these programs is summarized in the following table.
Etiology, Epidemiology, and Disease Management
Bochra Bahri - turfgrass and forage pathology
Phil Brannen – fruit disease management
Tim Brenneman – pecan and soilborne peanut diseases
Ellen Bauske – urban agriculture
Clive Bock (adjunct) – fruit and nut research
James Buck – diseases of soybean, wheat and ornamentals
Albert Culbreath – foliar peanut diseases and Tomato spotted wilt virus
Richard Davis (adjunct) – nematode management
Bhabesh Dutta – vegetable disease management
Ganpati Jagdale – nematode diagnostics
Bob Kemerait – peanut and cotton disease management
Alfredo Martinez-Espinoza – turfgrass and small grains disease management
Jonathan Oliver – fruit disease management
Harald Scherm – fruit disease epidemiology
Paul Severns - plant disease epidemiology
Jean Williams-Woodward – diseases of ornamentals, commercial landscapes and forestry
Pathogen Biology and Ecology
Sudeep Bag – crop virology and virus management
Marin Brewer – mycology and fungal population biology
Anny Chung - belowground plant ecology and microbial interactions
Jean Lodge (adjunct) – fungal ecology, taxonomy, and forest pathology; Julian H. Miller Mycological Herbarium (GAM)
Rima Lucardi (adjunct) – invasion biology and ecology
Babu Srinivasan (courtesy) – vector-virus-plant interactions
Patricia Timper (adjunct) – nematology
Ron Walcott – bacteriology and seed pathology
Plant-Microbe Interactions and Host Resistance
Soraya Bertioli – peanut genomics and disease resistance
Chang-Hyun Khang (courtesy) – cellular plant-fungal interactions
Brian Kvitko – plant immunity and molecular bacteriology
Melissa Mitchum - plant-nematode interactions
Shavannor Smith – structure and evolution of host resistance
Caterina Villari (courtesy) - interactions among trees, fungal pathogens and insect herbivores, chemical ecology
Li Yang – plant development and defense
Mycotoxicology and Fungal Genetics
Renee Arias (adjunct) – peanut mycotoxin mitigation
Charles Bacon (adjunct) – microbial endophytes
Anthony Glenn (adjunct) – genetics of Fusarium
Scott Gold (adjunct) – fungal genetics
Baozhu Guo (adjunct) – disease and mycotoxin resistance in corn and peanut
