Martin Carson
Research Leader, Cereal Disease Lab
My research is focused on two important diseases of small grains: Oat crown rust caused by Puccinia coronata, and Fusarium Head Blight of Wheat and Barley. Emphasis is on host resistance and pathogen population biology in relation to the deployment of resistant cultivars. Crown rust of Oat is a classic example of how the use of single dominant race-specific resistance genes has failed to keep pace with the rapid appearance of corresponding virulence in the pathogen population. Emphasis in Oat improvement programs has slowly shifted to the search for more durable forms of resistance to crown rust, called partial, slow-rusting, or adult plant resistance. Much of my work is devoted to identifying and genetically characterizing these types of resistance in Oat germplasm. I am also initiating studies on the population genetics of P. coronata, comparing geographically isolated populations and populations with and without apparently sexual recombination. Fusarium head blight (FHB) research will center on the development of near- isogenic lines of wheat to study the effects individual resistance genes (QTL) on FHB development, their specificity, and to effectively pyramid genes to achieve maximum levels of resistance.
Selected Publications:
Balint-Kurti, P. J., and Carson, M. L. 2006. Identification and analysis of quantitative trait loci conferring resistance to southern leaf blight in juvenile maize. Phytopathology 96:221-225.
Carson, M. L., and Goodman, M. M. 2006. Pathogenicity, aggressiveness, and virulence of three species of Cercospora associated with gray leaf spot of maize. Maydica 51:89-92.
Balint-Kurti, P. J., Blanco, M., Millard, M., Duvick, S., Holland, J., Clements, M., Holley, R., Carson, M. L., and Goodman, M. M. 2006. Registration of 20 GEM maize breeding germplasm lines adapted to the southern USA. Crop Sci. 46:996-998.
Carson, M. L., Stuber, C. W., and Senior, M. L. 2005. Quantitative trait loci conditioning resistance to Phaeosphaeria leaf spot of maize caused by Phaeosphaeria maydis. Plant Dis. 89:571-574.
Carson, M. L., 2005. Yield Loss Potential of Phaeosphaeria Leaf Spot of Maize caused by Phaeosphaeria maydis in the U. S. Plant Disease 89:986-988.
Bush, B. J., Carson, M. L., Cubeta, M. A.,. Hagler, W. M, and Payne, G. A. 2004. Infection and fumonisin production by Fusarium verticillioides in developing maize kernels. Phytopathology 94:88-93.
Carson, M. L., Stuber, C. W., and Senior, M. L. 2004. Identification and mapping of quantitative trait loci conditioning resistance to southern leaf blight of maize caused by Cochliobolus heterostrophus race O. Phytopathology 94:862-867.
Ferguson, L. M., and Carson, M. L. 2004. Spatial diversity of Setosphaeria turcica sampled from the Eastern United States. Phytopathology 94:892-900.
Carson, M. L., and Stuthman, D. D. 2004. Does partial resistance exert selection on Oat crown rust populations? p. 179 in: Proc. 7th Int. Oat Conf., Agrifood Research Reports 51, MTT Agrifoods Research Finland, Jokioinen, Finland, P. Peltonen-Sainio and M. Topi-Hulmi eds.
Pataky, J. K., and Carson, M. L. 2003. Host Resistance. p295-311. in: R. N. Trigiano, M. T. Windham, and A. S. Windham (eds.) Plant Pathology: Concepts and Laboratory Exercises. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Carson, M. L., Goodman, M. M., and Williamson, S. M. 2002. Variation in aggressiveness among isolates of Cercospora from maize as a potential cause of genotype X environment interaction in gray leaf spot trials. Plant Disease 86:1089-1093.
Goodman, M. M., and Carson, M. L. 2001. Reality vs. Myth: Corn breeding, exotics, and genetic engineering. Proc. 55th Ann. Corn Sorghum Res. Conf. 55: 36-44.
Carson, M. L. 2001. Inheritance of resistance to Phaeosphaeria leaf spot of maize. Plant Disease 85:798-800.
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