Larry D Dunkle

USDA Professor

Department: Botany and Plant Pathology
Phone: 765.494.6076
Fax: 765.496.3452
Office: Lilly Hall, Room 1-339
E-mail: dunkle@purdue.edu

Area of Expertise: Host-Pathogen Interactions - Mechanisms of pathogenicity in fungal pathogens of corn and sorghum; Mechanisms of resistance to fungal pathogens of corn

Our research involves studies on the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of fungal pathogenicity and virulence and of plant disease resistance. The ultimate goal of the research is to obtain information that will expand approaches for controlling fungal diseases of corn and sorghum and lead to new and improved disease control strategies.  Research in the Corn and Sorghum Pathology Laboratory emphasizes gray leaf spot of corn, caused by Cercospora zeae-maydis, and northern leaf blight, caused by Setosphaeria turcica. During the past three decades, gray leaf spot has increased in incidence and severity and has become the major foliar disease of corn worldwide. Substantial yield losses occur under favorable environmental conditions and particularly with no-till or conservation tillage practices. Very little is known about the mechanisms of resistance in corn or about the mechanisms of virulence in the pathogen. A thorough understanding of the molecular basis for host-pathogen interactions will be important to achieve effective and durable control of gray leaf spot. Northern leaf blight remains a persistent disease problem throughout the world. Studies of this host-pathogen system afford the opportunity to explore aspects of gene-for-gene interactions in a cereal crop in which single genes in the corn host confer resistance to single specific races of the pathogen.

- Recent Publications

Bluhm, B. H., B. Dhillon, E. A. Lindquist, G. H. J. Kema, S. B. Goodwin, & L. D. Dunkle (2008). Analyses of expressed sequence tags from the maize foliar pathogen Cercospora zeae-maydis identify novel genes expressed during vegetative, infectious, and reproductive growth. Biomed Central (BMC) Genomics, 9, 523. http://doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-9-523

Bluhm, B. H., & L. D. Dunkle (2008). PHL1 of Cercospora zeae-maydis encodes a member of the photolyase/cryptochrome family involved in UV protection and fungal development. Fungal Genetics and Biology, 45, 1364-1372.

Brunelli, K. R., L. D. Dunkle, C. A. Sobrinho, A. C. Fazza, & L. E. A. Camargo (2008). Molecular variability in the maize gray leaf spot pathogens in Brazil. Genetics and Molecular Biology, 31, 938-942.

Bluhm, B. H., X. Zhou, J. E. Flaherty, J. Xu, & L. D. Dunkle (2007). RAS2 regulates growth and pathogenesis in Fusarium graminearum. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 20, 627-636.

Nagy, E. D., T. C. Lee, W. Ramakrishna, Z. Xu, P. E. Klein, P. SanMiguel, C. P. Cheng, J. Li, K. M. Devos, K. Schertz, L. D. Dunkle, & J. L. Bennetzen (2007). Fine mapping of the Pc locus of Sorghum bicolor, a gene controlling the reaction to a fungal pathogen and its host-selective toxin. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 114, 961-970.

Shim, W. B., & L. D. Dunkle (2005). Malazy, a degenerate, species-specific transposable element in Cercospora zeae-maydis. Mycologia, 97, 349-355.

Flaherty, J. F., & L. D. Dunkle (2004). Identification and expression analysis of regulatory genes induced during conidiation in Exserohilum turcicum. Fungal Genetics and Biology, 42, 471-481.

Shim, W. B., & L. D. Dunkle (2003). CZK3, a MAP kinase kinase kinase homolog in Cercospora zeae-maydis, regulates cercosporin biosynthesis, fungal development, and pathogenesis. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 16(9), 760-768.

Lapaire, C. L., & L. D. Dunkle (2003). Microcycle conidiation in Cercospora zeae-maydis. Phytopathology, 93, 193-199.