Dr. Mark Windham
“Plant pathology is applied botany that improves the lives of people.”
“Plant pathology is applied botany that improves the lives of people.”
Dr. Frank Hale, Alan Windham, and Mark Windham recently weighed in on the devastating effects of rose rosette disease in Knock Out roses in a recent article published in the Washington Post. See the full article here.
The Cookeville Rose Society and Cumberland County Master Gardeners took a twilight tour with Drs. Alan and Mark Windham through the rose rosette resistant trials at the Plateau Research and Education Center near Crossville, TN. While in the plots, they learned about how to recognize rose rosette, rose rosette management strategies, and research results concerning disease resistance. After the tour, everyone ate homemade ice cream while learning more about growing roses and how to control rose diseases and insect pests.
Frank Hale and Alan Windham attended UT Turf and Ornamental Field Day on Thursday at the Plant Science farm on Alcoa. They averaged 50 persons for each of four presentations, which covered new and noteworthy insect pests and diseases such as emerald ash borer, boxwood blight, rose rosette and others. Over 500 turf and grounds maintenance professionals attended the field day.
Abstract: Genome wide association studies, GWAS, are performed to determine potential associations between phenotypic (traits observed) data and genotypic (genome) data. Ipomoea batatas, sweetpotato, is a vital crop for combating both visible and invisible hunger, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the genetic diversity of the sweetpotato germplasm and the genetic architecture underlying agronomic traits is crucial to maintenance and utility of the genetic resources for the crop’s improvement. We will perform a GWAS study to determine potential genes and genomic features associated with traits of interest including disease and pest resistance traits, culinary traits, phytonutritional traits, and morphological traits. We intend to determine potential genes of interests and functional markers for breeding programs.