Tobin L. Peever
Associate Professor,
Associate Plant Pathologist
Research Specialty and Interests
My research program is focused on the evolution of plant-pathogenic fungi. My goal is to understand how evolution has shaped pathogen populations and to use this knowledge to design more stable and environmentally sound management strategies to control plant disease. Current research efforts in my lab are focused on the evolutionary genetics of host specificity, the role of host specificity in fungal speciation and speciation processes in asexual fungi. In order to address these questions, we use two pathosystems, Ascochyta spp. which cause Ascochyta blights of a number of commercially important food legumes and Alternaria spp., which cause diseases of a number of hosts. In the former pathosystem, we are developing multilocus phylogenies of Ascochyta spp. sampled from wild and cultivated legumes, performing genetic crosses between closely related, host-specific forms and testing the fitness of hybrids using experimental inoculations. With the A. alternata/citrus pathosystem, we are primarily interested in the ecology and evolution of citrus-associated isolates including pathogenic, non-pathogenic and putatively endophytic strains, the evolution of host-specific toxins and their role in host specificity and mechanisms of horizontal gene exchange. We are also studying the molecular systematics of A. alternata and closely related small-spored Alternaria species on several host plants and are using Alternaria species as a model to determine the role of mating genes in asexual fungi. I collaborate extensively with WSU researchers as well with numerous others around the globe.
Education
- 1994 - Ph.D. Cornell University
- 1987 - M.Sc. University of Toronto
- 1985 - B.Sc. University of Guelph
Professional Experience
- 2005-present, Associate Professor Plant Pathology, WSU
- 1998-2005, Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, WSU
- 1996-1998, Visiting Assistant in Plant Pathology, University of Florida
- 1994-1996, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Cornell University
Awards/Honors/Memberships
- WSU Graduate and Professional Student Association's Faculty Advisor Excellence Award (2011)
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellow (2000)
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Graduate Scholarships (1985-1990)
- American Phytopathological Society
- Mycological Society of America
Selected Representative Publications
(see Peever lab page for complete list & downloadable pdf files)
Stewart, J.E., M. Kawabe, Z. Abdo, T. Arie and T.L. Peever. 2011. Purifying selection and biased codon usage at the mating locus in asexual Alternaria species. PLoS One 6: (in press).
Pagliaccia, D., G.W. Douhan, L. Douhan, T.L. Peever, L.M. Carris, J.L. Kerrigan. 2011. Development of molecular markers and preliminary investigation of the population structure and mating system of the black morel (Morchella elata) group in the Pacific Northwestern USA. Mycologia 103: 000-000 (in press).
Akamatsu, H.O., M.I. Chilvers, J.E. Stewart and T.L. Peever. 2010. Identification and function of a polyketide synthase gene responsible for 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene-melanin pigment biosynthesis in Ascochyta rabiei. Current Genetics 56: 349-360.
Miyamoto, A. Masunaka, T. Tsuge, M. Yamamoto, K. Ohtani, T. Fukumoto, K. Gomi, T.L. Peever, Y. Tada, K. Ichimura and K. Akimitsu. 2010. ACTTS3 encoding a polyketide synthase is essential for the biosynthesis of ACT-toxin and pathogenicity in the tangerine pathotype of Alternaria alternata. Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions 23: 000-000 (in press).
Frenkel, O., T.L. Peever, M.I. Chilvers, H. Özkilinc, C. Can, S. Abbo, D. Shtienberg, and A. Sherman. 2010. Ecological divergence of the fungal pathogen Didymella rabiei on sympatric wild and domesticated chickpea. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76: 30-39.
Mavrodi, D., T.L. Peever, J. Parejko, J.M. Raaijmakers, P. Lemanceau, S. Mazurier, L. Heide, W. Blankenfeldt and L.S. Thomashow. 2010. Diversity and evolution of the phenazine biosynthetic pathway. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76: 866-879.
Ajiro, N., Y. Miyamoto, A. Masunaka, T. Tsuge, M. Yamamoto, K. Ohtani, T. Fukumoto, K. Gomi, T.L. Peever, Y. Izumi, Y. Tada and K. Akimitsu. 2010. Role of host-selective ACT-toxin synthesis gene ACTTS2 encoding an enoyl-reductase for the pathogenicity of the tangerine pathotype of Alternaria alternata. Phytopathology 100: 120-126
Chilvers, M.I., J.D. Rogers, F.M. Dugan, J.E. Stewart, W. Chen and T.L. Peever. 2009. Didymella pisi sp. nov., the teleomorph of Ascochyta pisi. Mycological Research 113: 391-400.
Andrew, M., T.L. Peever and B.M. Pryor. 2009. An expanded multilocus phylogeny does not resolve species among the small-spored Alternaria species complex. Mycologia 101: 95-109.
Peever, T.L. 2007. Role of Host Specificity in the Speciation of Ascochyta Pathogens of Cool Season Food Legumes. European Journal of Plant Pathology 119: 119-126.
Peever, T.L., M.P. Barve, L.J. Stone and W.J. Kaiser. 2007. Evolutionary relationships among Ascochyta species infecting wild and cultivated hosts in the legume tribes Cicereae and Vicieae. Mycologia 99: 59-77.
Hernandez-Bello, M.A., M.I. Chilvers, H. Akamatsu, and T.L. Peever. 2006. Host specificity of Ascochyta species infecting legumes of the Viciae and Cicerae tribes and the pathogenicity of an interspecific hybrid. Phytopathology 96: 1148-1156.
Peever, T.L., S. Salimath, G. Su, W.J. Kaiser and F.J. Muehlbauer. 2004. Historical and contemporary multilocus population structure of Ascochyta rabiei (teleomorph: Didymella rabiei) in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Molecular Ecology 13: 291-309.
Peever, T.L., G. Su, L. Carpenter-Boggs and L.W. Timmer. 2004. Molecular systematics of citrus-associated Alternaria species. Mycologia 96: 119-134.
Office: Johnson
Hall 357
Lab: Vogel Plant Biosciences 219
Tel.: (509) 335-3754
Fax: (509) 335-9581
E-mail: tpeever@wsu.edu
Teaching:
Advanced Fungal Biology - PLP526. 4 credits. Graduate-level course focusing on the genetics, ecology and evolution of fungi. Offered in alternate years. Co-taught with L.M. Carris.
General Plant Pathology - PLP429. 3 credits. Undergraduate course introducing students to the biology of plant disease and disease control. Co-taught with B.M. Schroeder.
Professional Activities:
Senior Editor, Phytopathology 2009-present
Heading using the h3 tag
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