Plant Pathology Research
The Department of Plant Pathology has a history of a strong commitment to fundamental and applied research to advance our understanding of global challenges associated with sustainable plant productivity in the presence of plant pathogens and microbial communities. Our faculty have been successful in obtaining external funding through grants from federal agencies including the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Several faculty members are funded by various crop commodity boards, agricultural companies and private foundations.
An Award-Winning Department
Several members of the faculty have been recognized for extraordinary individual achievements. The first three members of the National Academy of Sciences from Nebraska are associated with the UNL’s Department of Plant Pathology: Myron Brakke (1974), Marty Daly (1984), and James Van Etten (2003).
The highest award given by the American Phytopathological Society (APS) is the Award of Distinction, and out of the 17 recipients who have ever received it, three have been from the UNL Department of Plant Pathology: Myron Brakke (1988), Anne Vidaver (1998), and James Van Etten (2016).
- APS Fellows: Jim Van Etten, Bob Harveson, Satyanarayana Tatineni
- AAAS Fellows: James Van Etten, Richard Wilson, Thomas Powers
- Fellow of American Society of Microbiology: James Van Etten
- UNL Charles Bessey Professor: Richard Wilson
- Willliam Allington Distinguished Professorship of Plant Pathology: James Van Etten
- Society of Nematologists Fellow: Tom Powers
Current Department Research Objectives by Faculty/Lab
| Deanna Funnell-Harris | The Funnell-Harris lab is focused on describing interactions of fungal pathogens with specific sorghum and wheat host genotypes, especially those with altered lignin, starch, and pigment compositions and concentrations. |
| Teddy Garcia Aroca | Research in the Fungal Ecology lab is focused on understanding the drivers of evolution and diversity in populations of fungal plant pathogens across ecosystems in Nebraska, the region, and at the global scale. |
| Hernan Garcia-Ruiz | Research in our lab is focused on molecular mechanisms of antiviral immunity in plants and pathogenicity in plant viruses. |
| Robert Harveson | Research in the Harveson lab focuses on root rot diseases of sugar beets, bacterial diseases of dry beans, and sunflower diseases. |
| Tamra Jackson-Ziems | The Jackson-Ziems lab is focused on corn and sorghum diseases and commonly works with industry partners to evaluate the efficacy of foliar, in-furrow and seed treatment products to manage fungi, bacteria, and nematodes. |
| Saet-Byul Kim | The Kim Lab investigates the interactions between crop-fungal pathogens by integrating genetics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics to enhance our understanding of these complex relationships. |
| Dylan Mangel | Dr. Mangel's Extension plant pathology program focuses on addressing field crop pathogens, particularly soybean diseases like Sclerotinia stem rot and Phytophthora root and stem rot, through applied, field-based research aimed at developing practical disease management strategies to reduce yield losses and enhance crop resilience. |
| Amit Mitra | The Mitra lab studies disease resistance in transgenic and gene-edited crops through utilization of novel genes, pathways, and RNA interference for disease resistance. |
| Tom Powers | The Powers Nematology Laboratory focuses on diversity, diagnostics, systematics and interactions that contribute to soil health. |
| Clemencia Rojas | Our research focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular interactions between plants and plant pathogenic bacteria and developing sustainable strategies to control plant diseases. |
| Brandi Sigmon | Research in the Sigmon lab focuses on a variety of different projects involving molecular biology, genetics, development and/or phenotyping in both maize and sorghum, and to provide research opportunities for undergraduate students. |
| Satyanarayana Tatineni (TS) | The main focus of my lab research is exploring virus-virus, virus-host, and virus-vector interactions of economically important wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV), and High Plains wheat mosaic virus (HPWMoV). |
| James Van Etten | The Van Etten laboratory investigates a wide range of topics associated with the molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, bioinformatics, and ecology of Chloroviruses--large viruses that infect certain unicellular, eukaryotic chlorella-like green algae. |
| Stephen Wegulo | The Wegulo lab group conducts research on the epidemiology and management of wheat diseases. |
| Richard A. Wilson | Work in the Wilson lab seeks to understand the cellular, molecular and biochemical underpinnings of host infection by the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. |
| Lirong Zeng | The Zeng lab focuses on the roles of posttranslational modifications, especially ubiquitination, in regulating plant-bacteria interactions, with the aim of elucidating and eventually manipulating for crop improvement the key molecular mechanisms that plants use to defend against various biotic stresses. |
Click the faculty name in the left column to visit their profile.