Bradley Tonnessen

• BSc Biology
• PhD Student at Colorado State University

To more sustainably mitigate the impact of crop diseases on plant health and productivity, there is a need for broader spectrum, long‐lasting resistance traits. Defense response (DR) genes, located throughout the genome, participate in cellular and system‐wide defense mechanisms to stave off infection by diverse pathogens. This multigenic resistanc...

Effective and durable disease resistance for bacterial blight (BB) of rice is a continuous challenge due to the evolution and adaptation of the pathogen, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), on cultivated rice varieties. Fundamental to this pathogens’ virulence are Transcription Activator‐Like (TAL) effectors that activate transcription of host gen...

Plant disease resistance that is durable and effective against diverse pathogens (broad-spectrum) is essential to stabilize crop production. Such resistance is frequently controlled by Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL), and often involves differential regulation of Defense Response (DR) genes. In this study, we sought to understand how expression of DR...

Most agronomically important traits, including resistance against pathogens, are governed by quantitative trait loci (QTL). QTL-mediated resistance shows promise of being effective and long-lasting against diverse pathogens. Identification of genes controlling QTL-based disease resistance contributes to breeding for cultivars that exhibit high and...

A vaccine against schistosomiasis would contribute significantly to reducing the 3-70 million disability-adjusted life years lost annually to the disease. Towards this end, inoculation with the large extracellular loop (EC-2) of Schistosoma mansoni tetraspanin-2 protein (Sm-TSP-2) has proved effective in reducing worm and egg burdens in S. mansoni-...