Kansas State University

Winter greetings to friends, alumni, and supporters of KSU Plant Pathology!

Fall semester is almost over, and the department and campus are getting into winter break mode. We, as a department, accomplished a lot over the summer and fall semester. Here in this newsletter, we will give you a snapshot of our achievements, progress, and educational activities.

Awards and recognition

Harold Trick received the Distinguished Scientist Award at the Society for In Vitro Biology Meeting held in Tampa, FL in June. This award recognizes outstanding mid-career professionals who have made significant contributions to the field of in vitro biology and/or in the development of novel technologies that have advanced in vitro biology. 

Jesse Poland, has been selected as one of the new program leaders for Phenomics program within the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement. Kansas State University is a partner on an international team that includes U.S. universities and national institutes in a new global crop improvement research program to advance plant breeding tools, technologies and methods aimed at delivering crops that can increase yields, enhance nutrition and have greater resistance to pests and diseases. “The improvement of crop varieties is happening at a rate of about 1% per year around the world. This is good progress, but we need to see a rate of gain above 2% per year to keep pace with increasing global population demand,” Poland said. “Here at K-State, we will be partnering with national programs to help implement rigorous scientific inquiry to address the constraints of crop productivity.” 

Chandler Day received a North Central Division Student Travel Award to attend the APS North Central Division meeting that was held jointly this year with the APS Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio in August. Chandler was also recently named the Assistant Director of the Great Plains Diagnostic Network, working with Dr. Jim Stack who is the Director. She will begin her duties in January 2020.

Paula Silva, a doctoral student in Genetics from Uruguay, was one of 10 Kansas State University graduate students who were selected to represent the university at the 17th Capitol Graduate Research Summit, Feb. 26, 2020, at the State Capitol in Topeka. The Capitol Graduate Research Summit is an annual statewide summit that features current research of graduate students at Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Wichita State University, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University and Pittsburg State University. Silva was selected for her research presentation, “Harnessing the wild side to improve wheat curl mite resistance.” Silva’s faculty adviser is Jesse Poland, associate professor of plant pathology.

Lucky Mehra, instructor in Plant Pathology, recently received certification from the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE). Faculty who satisfy course requirements earn certificates in effective college instruction, awarded in collaboration with the American Council on Education. These credentials distinguish faculty and institutions for their commitment to educational excellence. Mehra received his certificate for satisfying the requirements for ACUE’s Course in Effective Teaching Practices.

Selected graduate students were awarded The Tillman Family Agriculture Graduate Student Award and Christine Lee Shepard Memorial Fund Award. The Tillman Award perpetuates the memory of Marcia Edythe Tillman and other immediate family members to provide financial assistance to graduate students properly enrolled in the College of Agriculture at Kansas State University. The Shepard Award perpetuates the memory of Christine Lee Shepard and is given by former Department Head, James F. Shepard. The award provides funds for research in non-conventional approaches to crop improvement.

The recipients of this year’s Tillman Family Agriculture Graduate Student Award are Paula Silva, Afsana Noor, Victoria Cast, Joel Steyer, and Bliss Betzen. The recipients of the Christine Lee Shepard Memorial Fund for 2019 are Dylan Mangel and Nar Ranabhat.

Welcoming new members of the department!

We have several new Graduate Research Assistants and Staff join us! 

Yoonha Ju is a new Graduate Research Assistant pursuing her PhD. She joins us all the way from Gwangju, South Korea. Ju has her Bachelor’s degree in Life Science and her Master’s degree in convergence science, both from Sahmyook University in Seoul. She is working under Dr. Bernd Friebe and Dr. Dal-Hoe Koo to establish immunostaining of meiosis-specific proteins in wheat and oligonucleotide labeling for chromosome-specific labeling of fungi chromosomes. Outside of work, she enjoys taking pictures on her phone to help her capture all of her important memories. 

Joseph Fenoglio joins us as a new Master’s Graduate Research Assistant under John Fellers and David Cook. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Kansas State University. During his undergraduate career he worked in Chris Little’s lab with Rodrigo Pedrozo on characterizing pathogenicity of Fusarium isolates on Soybeans. He has most recently been a Research Assistant at Montana State University in the Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Laboratory. In his current role, he is working on characterizing EMS mutagenized wheat that exhibit a decrease in infection when challenged with leaf rust. Outside of the office, Joseph is an avid fisherman, outdoorsman, and plays guitar. His favorite holiday tradition is eating too much food, especially pie! 

Buket Sahin is a new Master’s Graduate Research Assistant working with Dr. Bernd Friebe and Dr. Jesse Poland. She joins us as the Ministry of Agriculture scholar from Tekirdag, Turkey. Buket obtained her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Field Crops, both from Namik Kemal University in Tekirdag. Her current research investigates the leaf, stripe, and stem rust evolution of a core set of diploid A-genome species in wheat. She enjoys traveling and believes it’s a great way to learn.

Tyler Suelter joins us as a Graduate Research Assistant pursuing his PhD. From Lincoln, Kansas, he has his Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Chemistry. Interested in science and plants from a young age, he used to make his dad help him identify all the plants he found in the pasture. As an undergrad, Tyler worked in an ecosystem ecology laboratory and worked on projects in the arctic tundra and tallgrass prairie. After college, he joined Heartland Plant Innovations as a Research Associate in the Advanced Plant Breeding Lab and has spent the last six years focusing on wheat doubled haploid breeding. He is currently working with Dr. Barbara Valent on Magnaporthe oryzae, focusing on understanding the role of mini-chromosomes in effector shuffling to overcome host resistance. Outside of the lab, Tyler enjoys traveling, hiking, gardening and making and enjoying a good meal or adult beverage. His favorite holiday tradition is spending Christmas Eve at his grandparents’ with a huge meal, gifts, and games. 

Josiah Altschuler is the new Database Administrator for the Poland Lab. From Vestal, New York, Josiah received a B.S. in Biology from Cornell University and an M.S. in Bioinformatics from Northeastern University. He started his career as a computational biologist at the Bauer Center for Genomics Research, at Harvard University. After that, he worked as a bioinformatics engineer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He most recently worked as a senior web developer for JSI and then BlueAlly, before joining the Poland Lab as a database administrator. In his current role, he develops and maintains software pipelines to automate the processing, analysis and quality control of genomics datasets, designs and develops databases for “big data” projects including high-throughput phenotypic data, large genomic datasets, field data, and germplasm resources and develops project websites. Outside of work, he enjoys cichlid fish keeping, fingerpicking guitar, eating good black licorice and watching MMA. His favorite holiday tradition is Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. 

Lindsey Ashmore joined our staff in June as an Instructional Designer for the National Plant Diagnostic Network. Lindsey received her bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Mass Communications and Journalism with a focus on animal and crop sciences from Kansas State University. She was most recently the Instructional Designer and Technologist for the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) at Kansas State University where she managed their Learning Management System (LMS), training records and training inspection documents. During her time at the BRI, she led the training department through three Federal Select Agent Program inspections with zero findings. In her current role for the NPDN, Lindsey will select and manage a Learning Management System where the Professional Development Program will be hosted. She has identified potential LMS candidates through interviews and live demo testing to ensure that compatible technologies are selected and IT security issues are addressed.  Outside of the office, she enjoys spending time with her family and attending KSU sporting events. Her favorite holiday tradition is eating traditional German cookies while decorating the Christmas tree. 

Ferdinand Nanfack Minkeu is a Post-Doc in the lab of Dr. Shahideh Nouri. He received his Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology, both from the University of Yaoundél in Cameroon and his Ph.D. in Life Science complexity (Entomology and Virology) from Sorbonne University in Paris, France. He has previously worked as a Scientist at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France. In his current role, he works with insect and plant viruses, transmission and immune responses. Outside of work, Ferdinand enjoys playing soccer and has an interest in sociology. 

Sandeep Marla is working as a Post-Doc for Dr. David Cook. He’s originally from Khammam, India and received his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Purdue University in Indiana. He was previously a Research Associate with the Department of Agronomy at KSU. His research focused on identifying the genetic architecture underlying early-season chilling tolerance in sorghum, a tropical-origin crop grown extensively in Kansas but lacking chilling tolerance. In his current role, he’s evaluating the applicability of novel gene-editing tools to regulate gene-expression for bypassing antagonistic pleiotropism in plants. Outside of work, he enjoys playing volleyball and soccer. His favorite holiday tradition is organizing a Christmas Indian dinner with friends.

Graduations

Giovana Cruppe

• Degree: PhD Plant Pathology
• Major professor: Barbara Valent
• Dissertation: Wheat Blast Management through Identification of Novel Sources of Genetic Resistance and Understanding of Disease Dynamics

Chandler Day

• Degree: M.S. Plant Pathology
• Major professor: Megan Kennelly
• Thesis: Identification and resistance to thiophanate-methyl of Botrytis species on Kansas greenhouse crops and a specialty crops grower survey to assess extension IPM resource needs

Javier Kiyuna

• Degree: M.S. Plant Pathology
• Major professor: Jim Stack
• Thesis: Limits of Detection of Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum in Wheat Seed: Implications for Pathogen Dissemination

Workshops and outreach

1. Lucky Mehra, Megan Kennelly, and Kris Silver with the help of graduate students organized ‘The Secret Life of Plants’ workshop for middle school girls attending Girls Researching Our World (GROW) workshop at K-State. The participants learned about fungi, nematodes, insect pests, and disease diagnosis. The GROW workshop is a yearly 3-day program held at Manhattan campus during the month of June. This workshop is designed to encourage and inspire middle school girls to pursue a future in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and pre-health professions.
2. The K-State Integrated Genomics Facility (IGF) and the Department of Plant Pathology hosted the Genomic Technologies workshop on June 17th-21st, 2019. Twenty one workshop participants learned about recent technological advances in the field of genomics. The students were provided with conceptual knowledge and hands-on training on next and third-generation sequencing, Real Time PCR, single cell sequencing and gene editing. The Genomic Technologies Workshop was taught by the Plant Pathology faculty members and postdocs: Eduard Akhunov, David Cook, Katie Jordan, Fei He, Alina Akhunova, and Jie Ren. The invited speakers were Pamela Lussier – Agrigenomics Specialist, Illumina Inc and Brandon Blakey – Sales Executive, 10x Genomics. The next workshop is scheduled for June 8th -12th, 2020.
3. The 20th Annual Fusarium Workshop was held at K-State under the guidance of Dr. John Leslie from June 23rd to 27th, 2019. This workshop is taught by international Fusarium experts. Participants are introduced to standard morphological, genetic and molecular biological techniques used to identify and characterize strains of Fusarium. This year there were 36 participants.
4. Our department also showcased a station at Kids Field Day, held at North Agronomy Farm in September. We showed kids nematodes and stripe rust spores under the dissecting scopes.
5. This summer, we hosted eight undergraduate students from all over the country for our first year of Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU). This program is funded under the USDA-NIFA’s Education and Workforce Development initiative, and project directors are Megan Kennelly, Lucky Mehra, and David Cook. The purpose of the program is to train undergraduate students in research and extension. We will be training 35 students over the course of 4 years (2019 to 2022). Each student had an assigned mentor in the Departments of Plant Pathology, Entomology, or Agronomy. In addition to working with their mentors on their research or extension projects, the students also participated in professional development seminars, field trips, and FACT workshops. FACT stands for Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics Tools. Our goal was to introduce students to a wide variety of topics related to modern plant health research so that they have enough experience in hand to make a decision about what they would like to pursue for further studies.
6. Dylan Mangel, Emily Delorean, Nar Ranabhat, and Lucky Mehra taught an Introduction to R workshop in November for agricultural scientists to 32 participants, which included graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, technicians, and program managers. They taught fundamentals of R language, data manipulation and visualization using a `tidyverse` suite of packages.

Department representation

1. The annual meeting of American Phytopathological Society (APS) was held in Cleveland, Ohio from 3rd to 7th August, 2019. Our department was well represented by our graduate students: Chandler Day, Mónica Navia, Giovana Cruppe, Victoria Cast, Corrine Melvin, and Afsana Noor
2. Graduate students Bliss Betzen and Elina Adhikari went to 2019 Wheat Coordinated Agricultural Project (WheatCAP) at Cornell University. The workshop featured Practical Haplotype Graphs (PHG). PHG aims to represent diversity by creating pan-genome that captures genome variants across individuals in a species. 
3. Victoria Cast was selected as a Science Communication Fellow. She’ll be working over the next year to design and implement activities pertaining to her research and enhancing her skills in science communication to connect to a broader audience. We couldn’t be more proud and love that our students continuously want to be involved with Kansas Science Communication Initiative here at Kansas State University.
4. Dylan Mangel presented a poster at US Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative meeting held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Plant Pathology Graduate Student Club Activities

Interested in supporting the Plant Pathology Graduate Student Club? As a fundraiser the club is selling wheat license plates. Cost: $25 for students and $30 for faculty and staff. If interested, contact Joe Fenoglio at fenogjj@ksu.edu.

Thank you to our 2018-2019 club officers, Joel Steyer (President), Bliss Betzen (Vice President), Dylan Mangel (Treasurer), and Jameka Jefferson/Corrine Melvin (Social Chair), for their dedication to our department and graduate students. Please welcome new 2019-2020 officers, Dylan Mangel (President), Immaculate Wanjuki (Vice President), Joseph Fenoglio (Treasurer), and Carla Redila (Social Chair). We look forward to new opportunities and adventures.

This edition of the newsletter was written by Lucky Mehra, Kelly Staab, Doug Jardine, Myron Bruce, and Chandler Day.

If you are interested in supporting the department financially, here is one opportunity. Click the purple button and follow the prompts to the pulldownlist and select Plant Pathology Department Head Excellence Fund.