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Jim Alfano, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology has been awarded a two-year, $264,889 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project entitled EAGER: The Involvement of Blue Light in Plant Immunity.

Lincoln, Neb. — Bacterial leaf streak disease of corn, caused by Xanthomonas vasicola pv. vasculorum, has been confirmed in some Nebraska corn fields. The disease had not been previously identified in the United States, but had been reported on corn in South Africa. The bacterium also causes gumming disease in sugarcane in numerous other countries. The species has undergone name changes and is recognized by several other synonyms.

Lincoln, Neb. — A new study from a University of Nebraska-Lincoln research team led by plant pathologist Jim Alfano found that a bacterial plant pathogen suppresses a plant's immune system through the action of a protein called HopE1.

While most bacteria are harmless, some inject weapons called type III effectors into plant cells to suppress a plant's immune system. Through millions of years of co-evolution, pathogens identify weak links in the immune system of the plant to target, making the plant more susceptible to disease.

Lirong Zeng was awarded a grant from the NSF Plant Biotic Interaction Program.  The grant was awarded May 1, 2017 for 4 years in the amount of $685,000.

by Gillian Klucas | Research and Economic Development

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will lead a $20 million, Nebraska-based research effort to improve crop productivity.

Farewell to Suzana Fernandes.  She is moving home to Mozambique.  She received her Masters Degree August 2017.  Her thesis title:  Molecular and culture-based methodologies to pathogen in fungal/oomycete complex associated with root/crown rot of beans in Mozambique.  Congratulations, Suzana!

Her advisor:  James R. Steadman. 

Dr. James Steadman received the Meritorious Achievement Award presented by the Feed the Future Legume Innovation Lab at the Grain Legume Research Conference in Ouogadowgou, Burkina Faso. It is sponsored by USAID and The Gates Foundation.

Dr. Tamra A. Jackson-Ziems is promoted to Professor effective July 1, 2017. Dr. Jackson-Ziems earned her B.S. at the University of Central Arkansas in Biology in 1996; she continued with her M.S. at the University of Arkansas, in the Department of Plant Pathology, which she completed in 1999; and received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Department of Crop Sciences in 2005. She joined the UNL Department of Plant Pathology as an Assistant Professor in April 2005.

Lincoln, Neb. — Richard Wilson, associate professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has earned a $570,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, which causes rice blast disease. Rice blast is a global food security threat that causes a 10 to 30 percent reduction in annual rice yields.

Lirong Zeng is promoted to Associate Professor with tenure effective July 1, 2016.  He received a BS in Agronomy from the Hunan Agricultural University and a MS in Biochemistry from the Zhongshan (Sun Yat-Sen) University, China. In 2005 he earned his PhD in Molecular Plant Pathology from the Ohio State University.  He then did his postdoctoral research at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University with Gregory B.