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Plant Pathology

Department of Plant Pathology

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International Activities - Plant Pathology

OSU Plant Pathology student
OSU Plant Pathology PhD Student Taylor Klass working in Cambodia.

International Activities – Plant Pathology

Globalization of our programs and curriculum has long been a goal that the Department of Plant Pathology fully embraces through international research, development, teaching and outreach. All faculty members in Plant Pathology have directed some of their program into the international arena, either by advising international graduate students, collaborating with international scientists, speaking at international symposia or in foreign countries, or by participating in—or leading—collaborative international programs.

Department of Plant Pathology Faculty members have worked in 45 countries during the past five years, have overseen 25 student exchanges, mentored 36 international visiting scholars and postdocs, participated in 49 funded international research projects and 41 collaborative programs not funded by a specific grant. Our global objectives are to:

Tropical Agriculture class (with Prof. Caitilyn Allen, University of Wisconsin—Madison and Prof. Amilcar Sanchez at Universidad de San Carlos—Guatemala) learning about a regional, indigenous seed production NGO in Guatemala.
Tropical Agriculture class learning about a regional, indigenous seed production NGO in Guatemala.

 • Train and collaborate with international students, postdoctoral scientists and scholars through our undergraduate and graduate programs, international exchange programs, training workshops, and joint research projects.  Utilize technology to bring educational opportunities to new audiences.

 •  Continue to develop linkages and partnerships between programs and individuals in developed and developing countries, for the purpose of development and human-capital capacity building in less developed countries.

 

 

 

Prof. Jonathan Jacobs participates in the French Xanthomonas Network (FNX) OSU Global One Health Initiative (GOHi) Ethiopian staff meet with Wooster Campus GOHi members Sally Miller and Gireesh Rajashekara and GOHI director Wondwossen Gebreyes Prof. Pierce Paul with EMBRAPA scientists during his recent sabbatical in Brazil. Prof. Pierce Paul taught an epidemiology short course at the University of Brasilia during his recent sabbatical.
Prof. Jonathan Jacobs participates in the French Xanthomonas Network (FNX) OSU Global One Health Initiative (GOHi) Ethiopian staff meet with Wooster Campus GOHi members Sally Miller and Gireesh Rajashekara and GOHI director Wondwossen Gebreyes Prof. Pierce Paul taught an epidemiology short course at the University of Brasilia during his recent sabbatical.

Prof. Pierce Paul with EMBRAPA scientists during his recent sabbatical in Brazil.

 

Some examples of recent projects:

In 2020, the Benitez lab is testing the interaction of mixed species AM inoculants with seed treatment and SCN infestation in experimental microplots setup in Wooster, OH.
In 2020, the Benitez lab is testing the interaction of mixed species AM inoculants with seed treatment and SCN infestation in experimental microplots setup in Wooster, OH. 

 • OSU SEEDS Partnership Grant - Arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation effects on soybean cyst nematode infestation: Modes of action (Benitez). In collaboration with an Israeli based company, Groundworks BioAg, the Benitez Lab is assessing the interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculants in soybean and soybean cyst nematode. This partnership is focused on understanding potential mechanisms of action behind AM benefits on soybean production.

 

 • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations project – Aerial plant disease surveillance by spectral signatures (Bonello, Wang, Stewart). This project aims to develop and deploy stratified satellite/drone-mounted remote sensing technology for the detection of infected plants at the pre-symptomatic stage, so that infection centers can be delineated more accurately.  In coordination with colleagues in Tanzania, this project targets two diseases of high significance, rice blast and maize lethal necrosis virus.

OSU PhD student collaborators Deogracious Massawe (Plant Pathology) and Chris Wiegman (Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering) discussing maize virus diseases in Tanzania in 2019.
OSU PhD student collaborators Deogracious Massawe (Plant Pathology) and Chris Wiegman (Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering) discussing maize virus diseases in Tanzania in 2019.

 • International Programs of the USDA Forest Service – A global, reciprocal sentinel gardens approach to assess risk of invasion by alien pathogens and insect pests of important woody plant species (Bonello, Peduto Hand). In collaboration with colleagues in China, Italy, and Sweden, this project aims to be a proof of concept study for a biosurveillance system based on deployment of tree species of high interest in countries that are likely to export aggressive and potentially invasive pathogens and insect species on so called plants-for-planting.  It is a fully reciprocal study in which North American tree species are planted in China and Western Europe, and vice versa in all combinations.

 

 

So many holes, so little time…  OSU MS student Caleb Kime and PhD student Soumya Ghosh (Bonello lab) drilling holes to plant trees for the sentinel planting in Columbus, OH in summer 2020.
So many holes, so little time…  OSU MS student Caleb Kime and PhD student Soumya Ghosh (Bonello lab) drilling holes to plant trees for the sentinel planting in Columbus, OH in summer 2020.

• NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity - Secondary metabolites as drivers of fungal endophyte community diversity (Slot). In collaboration with Dr. Priscila Chaverri at the University of Costa Rica, the Slot lab is identifying genetic networks that enable fungi to colonize and provide disease resistance to coffee and related plant species. This work will result in genomic resources and potential biological control organisms against tropical plant diseases.

• Meta-analytic modeling of relationships between soybean tar spot and yield and fungicide efficacy and economic benefit (Paul). Collaborating with colleagues at the Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ), University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and Empresa Brasileiro de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (Emprapa), we applied multi-treatment meta-analytic models to quantify relationships between soybean yield and tar spot and the efficacy and economic benefits of fungicide programs for tar spot management.

 

• USAID Feed the Future IPM Innovation Laboratory in South/SE Asia (Miller, Jacobs). This collaboration is between OSU, Virginia Tech, Penn State Univ., Washington State Univ., Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, iDE-Nepal, National Agricultural Research Council-Nepal, Center for Environmental and Agricultural Policy Research, Extension, and Development,  iDE, General Directorate of Agriculture of the  Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Royal Agricultural University in Cambodia. Our goal is to improve vegetable and mango production by developing and diffusing IPM strategies through farmer-focused research and outreach. We are also focused on capacity development in research, outreach and diagnostics.

OSU Plant Pathology PhD Student Taylor Klass with collaborator Dr. Kimhian Seng from iDE Cambodia presenting to regional Cambodian extension agents about bacterial wilt management and diagnostics.
OSU Plant Pathology PhD Student Taylor Klass with collaborator Dr. Kimhian Seng from iDE Cambodia presenting to regional Cambodian extension agents about bacterial wilt management and diagnostics. 

• Mechanism and utilization of beneficial microbes in improving plant growth and defense in diverse biotic and abiotic stress conditions (Xia). In collaboration with Professor Hassan Javed Chaudhary from Pakistan, we aim to investigate the mechanism and utilization of beneficial microbes in improving plant growth and defense in diverse biotic and abiotic stress conditions. The long-term goals are to utilize these beneficial microbes in agricultural practices to improve plant health and yield and meanwhile reduce chemical applications.

 

Graduate student Amna Saeed from Professor Hassan Javed Chaudhary’s lab in Pakistan and OSU Assistant Professor Ye Xia at OSU Campus in USA.
Graduate student Amna Saeed from Professor Hassan Javed Chaudhary’s lab in Pakistan and OSU Assistant Professor Ye Xia at OSU Campus in USA.

• BBSRC (UK)-Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation– Durable rice blast resistance through genomic analysis of the host-pathogen interaction (Wang and Mitchell). This project characterized populations of the rice blast pathogen in Africa and identified novel sources of resistance from world-wide rice stocks and, in particular, rice varieties especially bred to thrive in African growing conditions. We also trained three PhD students from Sub-Saharan Africa who learned molecular biology, genetic and genomic techniques in advanced laboratories.

 

• United Nations FAO – Data acquisition, knowledge synthesis, and information transfer on mitigation of antimicrobial resistance in the food environment of low- and middle-income countries of SE Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (Miller, Lewis Ivey). In collaboration with Jeffrey LeJeune (FAO), Gireesh Rajashekara (OSU FAHRP), Armando Hoet (OSU Vet Prev Med) and Sanja Ilic (OSU Human Sciences), we assessed the current knowledge and research needs relating to horticultural uses of plant protection agents with antimicrobial activity, the sources and fate of antimicrobial residues and antimicrobial resistant organisms (AMR) in the environment, the use of biocides and disinfectants in food processing and knowledge and use of Good Agricultural Practices in two LMICs.

Project participants from the US, UK and African countries at the annual review meeting on June 4th- 7th 2015, Naivasha, Kenya
Project participants from the US, UK and African countries at the annual review meeting on June 4th- 7th 2015, Naivasha, Kenya

 

• Improved methods for network meta-analysis (Madden). This collaboration with Dr. Hans-Peter Piepho of the University of Hohenhein, Stuttgart, Germany involves the development of new statistical methods for multi-treatment (network) meta-analysis in agriculture and other fields. Considerable progress has been made in establishing protocols to fit current and novel network models with standard mixed-model software.

• USAID iAGRI/Borlaug U.S. Graduate Student Fellowship - Improved soil health and germplasm to advance tomato production in Tanzania (Miller). This project was a collaboration with David Frances (OSU HCS), Steve Culman (OSU SENR), Delphina Mamiro, Ernest Mbega (Sokoine University of Agriculture), Fen Beed and Danny Coyne (IITA) in which farmer participatory research was conducted to select improved disease-resistant tomato varieties and evaluate soil test kits in the Morogoro region. Participation of farmers, village leaders and extension personnel was monitored and likely adoption of tomato varieties predicted with Outcome Mapping, the first application of this technique to plant pathology.

OSU Plant Pathology PhD student Hellen Kanyagha conducts an interview regarding  pesticide and antibiotic use in East Africa O-H-I-O in Morogoro, Tanazania. l-r: former OSU graduate student Anna Testen, Morogoro farmer, Sokoine University of Agriculture Prof. Delphina Mamiro, Prof. Sally Miller.
OSU Plant Pathology PhD student Hellen Kanyagha conducts an interview regarding  pesticide and antibiotic use in East Africa O-H-I-O in Morogoro, Tanazania. l-r: former OSU graduate student Anna Testen, Morogoro farmer, Sokoine University of Agriculture Prof. Delphina Mamiro, Prof. Sally Miller.