Faculty

David A. Smith, Chair:
Physiology and biochemistry of plant disease; plant defense compounds; fungal metabolism. dsmith@uky.edu

Lisa J. Vaillancourt, Director of Graduate Studies:
Fungal genetics; molecular regulation of fungal development and of fungus-plant disease interactions; anthracnose leaf blight and stalk rot in corn; biological control of corn diseases; development of infection structures in the corn anthracnose fungus, Colletotrichum graminicola; genetic regulation of sexual reproduction in fungi. vaillan@uky.edu

Mark L. Farman
Phytopathogenic fungi; fungal genetics; the fungal genome: structure and evolution; molecular evolution of host specificity; molecular genetics of oomycetes. farman@uky.edu

Said A. Ghabrial
Fungal viruses: molecular biology of the viruses that infect plant pathogenic fungi; molecular basis of the virus-induced disease and hypovirulence of the fungus, Helminthosporium victoriae, the causal agent of victoria blight of oats; Plant viruses: satellite RNAs associated with cucumoviruses and their mediation of disease attenuation in virus-infected plants; plant genetic engineering for biological protection from viral diseases. saghab00@uky.edu

Michael Goodin
Virology: cell biology and biochemistry of plant negative-strand RNA viruses with emphasis on interactions, nuclear import and export of viral proteins. Genomics: changes in host gene expression in response to viral infection. Plant biotechnology: development of transient expression vectors for plants based upon
Agrobacterium tumefaciens and viruses. mgoodin@uky.edu

John R. Hartman
Fruit crops, shade and forest trees, ornamentals and homegardens; integrated pest management; modeling and validating infection and control schemes for apple summer fruit diseases, fireblight, and apple scab; evaluation of ornamental trees for disease tolerance. jhartman@uky.edu

Donald E. Hershman
Soybeans and small grains; etiological and epidemiological studies; evaluating control strategies and testing crop genotypes for resistance to diseases such as soybean cyst nematode, barley yellow dwarf virus, and blackleg and white mold of canola. dhershma@uky.edu

Aardra Kachroo
Host defense signaling;  Dissecting defense-signaling pathways in Arabidopsis and soybean plants using mutant analysis and virus-induced gene silencing to examine gene functions involved in resistance signaling to viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens;  examining the interconnection between normal metabolic pathways and  defense signaling in host; deciphering the various regulatory roles of fatty acids and glycerol in plants. apkach2@uky.edu

Pradeep Kachroo
Host-Pathogen Interaction: Molecular basis of signaling mechanisms underlying a resistance response; Salicylic Acid and Jasmonic acid signaling in plants; Cross talk between various defense signaling
pathways; Fatty acid signaling and its role in defense response. pk62@uky.edu

Peter D. Nagy
Virology; molecular biology and biochemistry of plant viruses. Mechanism of virus replication; Mechanism of recombination; Virus evolution; RNA-protein interaction. pdnagy2@uky.edu

Christopher L. Schardl
Symbiotic fungi, particularly grass endophytes; molecular biology of plant-fungus interactions; fungal genetics and metabolism;pharmaceuticals and neurotoxins produced by fungi; biological plant protection; evolution of mutualism and parasitism; molecular systematics of fungi. schardl@uky.edu

Kenneth W. Seebold
Tobacco, vegetables, and greenhouses systems; educational programs related to using the principles of plant pathology to manage diseases of tobacco and commercial vegetables common to Kentucky. kseeb2@uky.edu

Paul Vincelli
Forages, turf, and corn. Field investigations into epidemiology and management of plant diseases caused by fungi; pesticide-free cultural practices and host plant resistance; diseases of forage legumes caused by Sclerotinia trifoliorum; foliar diseases of amenity turf grasses, especially those used for golf courses. pvincell@uky.edu