Dennis A. Halterman

USDA/ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit
Assistant Professor, Plant Pathology
Ph.D.: Purdue University

 

 

Research Program

The work in our lab revolves around the molecular mechanisms of disease resistance in potato. Plant diseases are among the greatest deterrents to crop production worldwide. Diseases caused by fungi, viruses, bacteria, insects, and nematodes impact agronomic and horticultural crops, in addition to commercial and recreational forests. Major efforts have been devoted to understanding the mechanisms of genetic resistance and incorporating it into breeding programs to offset potential yield loss caused by pathogens.

There are many resistance (R) genes in plant hosts, each conferring a unique specificity to various pathogen isolates. These R genes often are clustered as complex gene-families in plant genomes. In general, R genes function to recognize, directly or indirectly, "effector" molecules produced by the invading pathogen. This recognition results in a rapid signal cascade, leading to an active defense response.

A major focus of our work is resistance to the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which causes late blight on potato and tomato plants. A gene (RB) conferring resistance to a broad spectrum of late blight isolates was cloned here at the University of Wisconsin from a wild species of potato. We are continuing to characterize this gene at the molecular level in order to better understand the mechanism of resistance. We are also interested in the molecular basis of resistance to Verticillium dahliae, a soil-borne fungus that causes wilting and premature senescence, and Alternaria solani, which causes early dying disease in potato.

Selected Publications

Bae, J., Halterman, D., Jansky, S. Development of a Molecular Marker Associated with Verticillium Wilt Resistance in Diploid Interspecific Potato Hybrids. 2008. Mol. Breeding doi: 10.1007/s11032-008-9156-8

Halterman, D., Kramer, L.C., Weilgus, S., and Jiang, J. 2008. Performance of Transgenic Potato Containing the Late Blight Resistance Gene RB. Plant Dis. 92:339-343.

Speransky, A. S, Cimaglia, F., Krinitsina, A.A., Poltronieri, P., Fasano, P., Bogacheva, A.M., Valueva, T.A., Halterman, D., Shevelev, A.B., Santino, A. 2007. Kunitz-type Protease Inhibitors Group B from Solanum Palustre. J. Biotech. 2:1417-1424.

Liu, Z., and Halterman, D. 2006. Identification and Characterization of RB Orthologous Genes from the Late Blight Resistant Wild Potato Species Solanum verrucosum. Phys. Mol. Plant Pathol. 69:230-239.

Halterman, D and RP Wise. 2004. A single amino acid substitution in the sixth leucine-rich repeat of barley MLA6 and MLA13 alleviates dependence on RAR1 for disease resistance signaling. Plant Journal 38: 215-226.

Halterman, D, F Wei, and RP Wise. 2003. Powdery mildew induced Mla mRNAs are alternatively spliced and contain multiple upstream open reading frames. Plant Physiology 131: 558-567.

Halterman, D, F Zhou, F Wei, RP Wise, and P Schulze-Lefert. 2001. The MLA6 coiled-coil, NBS-LRR protein confers AvrMla6-dependent resistance specificity to Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei in barley and wheat. Plant Journal 25:335-348.

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