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Tobin Peever

Tobin Peever
Adjunct Faculty Graduate Program Coordinator Lab: Vogel Plant Biosciences 219 http://ext100.wsu.edu/berrypathology/

Research Specialty and Interests

My research program is focused on the biology, epidemiology and control of diseases affecting small fruit (berries) in the Pacific Northwest.  Current research efforts in my lab are focused on the biology and epidemiology of Botrytis cinereainfecting raspberry and blueberry, population and evolutionary biology of fungicide resistance in B. cinerea infecting berry crops and the epidemiology of mummyberry of blueberry caused by Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi. Other research interests include the genetics of host specificity, the role of host specificity in fungal speciation, and quantitative species recognition using Ascochyta and Alternariafungi as model systems. Recent projects in the lab also include the molecular, biological and ecological characterization of toxin biosynthetic pathways in Ascochyta spp., the molecular epidemiology and worldwide population structure of eucalypt rust and the systematics and ecology of Morchella spp. (black morels) in the US Pacific Northwest. I collaborate extensively with WSU and USDA researchers as well with numerous other scientists 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

  • Harteveld D.O.C., Grant M.R., Pscheidt J.W. and T.L. Peever. 2017. Predicting ascospore release of Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi of blueberry with machine learning. Phytopathology 107: 000-000 ( in press).
  • Ross-Davis, A.L., J.E. Stewart, R.N. Graca, A.C. Alfenas, T.L. Peever, and 21 additional authors. 2017. Genetic diversity of the myrtle rust pathogen (Austropuccinia psidii) in the Americas and Hawaii: Global implications for invasive threat assessments. Forest Pathology 47: 000-000 (in press).
  • Harteveld, D.O.C. and T.L. Peever. 2017. Timing of susceptibility of highbush blueberry cultivars in northwestern Washington to Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi, the cause of mummy berry. Plant Pathology 66: 000-000 (in press).
  • Kim, , J-J. Park, F.M. Dugan, D.R. Gang, G. Vandemark, T.L. Peever and W. Chen. 2017. Production of the antibiotic secondary metabolite solanapyrone A by the fungal plant pathogen Ascochyta rabiei during fruiting body formation in saprobic growth. Environmental Microbiology 19: 1822–1835.
  • Infantino, A., M. Zaccardelli, C. Costa, P. Menesatti, H. Ozkilinc, A. Habibi and T.L. Peever. 2016. A new disease of grasspea (Lathyrus sativus) caused by Ascochyta lentis var. lathyri. Journal of Plant Pathology 98: 541-548.
  • Harteveld, D.O.C. and T.L. Peever. 2016. Timing of mummyberry ascospore release related to blueberry phenology in NW Washington. Plant Disease Management Reports 10:SMF015.
  • Kim, W., T.L. Peever, J-J. Park, C-M. Park, D.R. Gang, M. Xian, J.A. Davidson, A. Infantino, W.J. Kaiser and W. Chen. 2016. Use of metabolomics for the chemotaxonomy of legume-associated Ascochyta and allied genera. Scientific Reports 6: 20192 doi:10.1038/srep20192.
  • Tymon, L.S., T.L. Peever and D.A. Johnson. 2016. Identification and enumeration of Alternaria species associated with potato in the Pacific Northwest. Plant Disease 100: 465-472.
  • McCotter, S.W., A.R. Garfinkel, T.M. Jardini, L.M. Carris and T.L. Peever. 2015. Multiple species of morels occur in landscape settings. Fungi 8: 28-34.
  • Kim, W., C.-H. Park, J.-J. Park, H. Akamatsu, T.L. Peever, M. Xian, D.R. Gang, G. Vandermark and W. Chen. 2015. Functional analyses of the diels-alderase gene sol5 of Ascochyta rabiei and Alternaria solani indicate that the phytotoxin solanapyrones are nonessential for pathogenicity. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 28: 482-496.
  • Kim, W., J-J. Park, D. Gang, T.L. Peever and W. Chen. 2015. A novel type pathway-specific regulator and dynamic genome environments of a solanapyrone biosynthesis gene cluster in the fungus Ascochyta rabiei. Eukaryotic Cell 14: 1102-1113.
  • McCotter, S.W., A.R. Garfinkel, T.M. Jardini, L.M. Carris and T.L. Peever. 2015. Multiple species of morels occur in landscape settings. Fungi 8: 28-34.
  • Huang, F., Y. Fu, D. Nie, J.E. Stewart, T.L. Peever and H. Li. 2015. Identification of a novel phylogenetic lineage of Alternaria alternata causing citrus brown spot in China. Fungal Biology 119: 320-330.
  • Dang, H.X., B.M. Pryor, T.L. Peever and C.B. Lawrence. 2015. Alternariagenomes database: A comprehensive resource for a fungal genus comprised of plant pathogens, saprophytes, and allergenic species. BMC Genomics 16: 239.
  • Carris, L.M. and T.L. Peever. 2015. Anamorphic states of DisciotisGyromitraand Morchella identified in the late fall and early winter in the inland Pacific Northwestern U.S.A. Mycologia 107: 729-744.
  • Stewart, J.E, L.M. Timmer, C.B. Lawrence, B.M. Pryor and T.L. Peever. 2014. Discord between morphological and phylogenetic species boundaries: Incomplete lineage sorting and recombination results in fuzzy species boundaries in an asexual fungal pathogen. BMC Evolutionary Biology 14: 38.
  • Graça, R.N., Ross-Davis, N.B. Klopfenstein, M.-S. Kim, T.L. Peever, P.G. Cannon, C.P. Aun, E.S.G. Mizubuti and A.C. Alfenas. 2013. Rust disease of eucalypts, caused by Puccinia psidii, did not originate via host jump from guava in Brazil. Molecular Ecology 22: 5963-6197.
  • Stewart, J.E., K.A. Thomas, C.B. Lawrence, H. Dang, B.M. Pryor, L.M. Timmer and T.L. Peever. 2013. Signatures of recombination in clonal lineages of the citrus brown spot pathogen, Alternaria alternata sensu lato. Phytopathology 103: 741-749.
  • Akamatsu, H.O., M.I. Chilvers, W.J. Kaiser and T.L. Peever. 2012. Karyotype polymorphisms in the phytopathogenic fungus Ascochyta rabiei and chromosomal rearrangement during meiosis. Fungal Biology 116: 1119-1133.
  • Hu, J., C. Chen, T.L. Peever, H. Dang, C. Lawrence and T. Mitchell. 2012. Genomic characterization of the conditionally dispensable chromosome in Alternaria arborescens provides evidence for horizontal gene transfer. BMC Genomics 13:171 (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/13/171)
  • Peever, T.L., W. Chen , Z. Abdo  and W.J. Kaiser. 2012. Genetics of virulence in Ascochyta rabiei. Plant Pathology 61: 754-760.
  • 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(5): e20083. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020083
  • 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.
  • 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.

Teaching

PLP526 Advanced Fungal Biology. 4 credits. Graduate course focusing on the genetics, ecology and evolution of fungi. Offered in alternate, even-numbered spring semesters.

PLP429 General Plant Pathology. 3 credits. Undergraduate course introducing students to the biology of plant disease and disease control. Offered every fall and co-taught with Hanu Pappu.

Professional Activities

Editor, Plant Pathology 2012-2017
Senior Editor, Phytopathology 2009-2012
Editor, European Journal of Plant Pathology 2007-2009

News

Check out the paper below that was recently published in the journal FUNGI. Research described in this paper was performed as part of a class project by students in PLP526 (Advanced Fungal Biology) in the Spring 2014 semester and they also prepared the manuscript for publication. Congrats Team Morel!

McCotter, S.W., A.R. Garfinkel, T.M. Jardini, L.M. Carris and T.L. Peever. 2015. Multiple species of morels occur in landscape settings. Fungi 8: 28-34.

Fungi Magazine Morel Article