 | | Jon Menke |
Jon R. Menke
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Minnesota
Department of Plant Pathology USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory
1551 Lindig Street
St. Paul, MN 55108
Email: menk0001@umn.edu Graduate Advisor: Dr. H. Corby Kistler | 2006-present | PhD Student, Plant Pathology
Department of Plant Pathology
University of Minnesota | | 1997 | B.S. Microbiology
College of Biological Sciences
University of Minnesota |
Research Focus
Cereals infected with Fusarium graminearum (F. graminearum), the causative agent of Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), are reduced in seed quality and yield and tainted with Type B trichothecenes, making them unsuitable for consumption. Acute symptoms of tricothecene exposure in humans include gastric and intestinal lesions, CNS toxicity, and suppression of immunity and reproductive function. My research is focused on Type B trichothecene toxin production by F. graminaerum and the mechanisms by which the fungus ameliorates trichothecene toxicity. Additionally, I am researching differential gene expression of F. graminearum in wheat and rice using Affymetrix GeneChip arrays to identify genes associated with decreased Type B trichothecene toxin production in F. graminearum infested rice relative to F. graminearum infested wheat.
Professional Experience
| 2004-2005 | Research Associate
Life Sciences Research Division
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA
| | 2001-2004 | Research Associate
R&D Department of MJ Bioworks.
MJ Bioworks, South San Francisco, CA
| | 1999-2001 | Research Associate
J. Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease.
J. David Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA
| | 1998-1999 | Research Associate
Subclone Sequencing Division of the Human Genome Center.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA
| | 1997-1998 | Research Associate
Clinical Development Division of Process Sciences.
Bayer, Inc., Berkeley, CA
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Publications
B. E. Lockhart, J. Menke, G. Dahal, and N. E. Olszewski. Characterization and genomic analysis of tobacco vein clearing virus, a plant pararetrovirus that is transmitted vertically and related to sequences integrated in the host genome. Journal of General Virology 2000 81:1579-1585. | 
