John Weiland

Adjunct Professor

e-mail: weilandj@fargo.ars.usda.gov

Dr. John Weiland, a USDA-ARS scientist and adjunct professor within the department, received his Ph.D. in 1992 from Oregon State University. He is housed in the Northern Crop Sciences Laboratory, on the southwest corner of the campus. Dr. Weiland's research covers molecular genetic approaches to fungal pathogenesis, plant resistance, and biological control in sugarbeet disease systems. His current research is directed toward the development of a genetic transformation systems for Rhizoctonia solani and Apahanomyces cochlioides. He is applying an existing transformation technique to resistance in Cercospora beticola to identify pathogenicity or virulence genes and design inhibitors for these gene products and to identify Cercospora beticola mutants that do not produce phytotoxins. He is also working to identify molecular markers associated with resistance to Cercospora leaf spot, and searching for bacteria that may inhibit fungal root pathogens of sugarbeet.

Email: weilandj@fargo.ars.usda.gov