> Graduate Program

A strong emphasis has always been placed on the training of graduate students. Over 650 students, more than from any other plant pathology department in the U.S., have received advanced degrees. Our graduates come from over 40 countries. Many graduate students studying with faculty in plant pathology will also receive advanced degrees in agronomy, bacteriology, biometry, environmental studies, genetics, molecular biology, and plant breeding and genetics. This diverse group of students contributes to the multidisciplinary approach, which is frequently essential to solving important biological and agricultural problems.

The Department offers advanced degrees for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students. M.Sc. degree students are required to earn a minimum of 21 credits, at least nine of which must be plant pathology courses selected by students and their thesis committees. Ph.D. students have several options: general plant pathology; plant physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology of host-parasite interactions, and the relationship between environmental factors and plant diseases. Foundation courses in the biological and basic physical sciences are expected to be completed before entering the Ph.D. program. Students are required to take at least 12 credits of plant pathology, including three seminars and courses covering the areas of disease physiology, molecular genetics of host-parasite interactions, ecology and epidemiology, etc. Students select additional courses that will meet their specific needs and directions as they relate to career goals.

Graduate students in the Department of Plant Pathology generally hold a research assistant appointment. This assistantship carries a remission of non-resident tuition in exchange for a research-oriented project. The appointee is required to register for a full load of courses and research each semester. A broad range of courses is offered within the Department and are complemented by lectures in the departments of Botany, Bacteriology, Statistics, Biochemistry, Genetics, and Molecular Biology.

Students participate in a rotation process their first semester on campus to help them decide in which lab they would like to work. The great diversity of areas of expertise and interests present in the Department leads to diversity in thesis titles, ranging from studies on disease control to projects concerned with the elucidation of molecular and physiological bases of disease interactions.

Recent Graduate Research Projects:

• The effects of cultural practice on survival of Phialophora gregata and severity of brown stem rot of soybean.
• Genetic analysis of lesion formation in Pseudomonas syringae.
• Mutational analysis of the cell surface and nodulation competitiveness of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. phaseoli.
• Studies on the spatial patterns of bacterial brown spot of snap beans.
• Effects of Bacillus cereus UW85 on bacterial communities in the rhizosphere.
• Mutational analysis of the putative nicking motif in the replication associated protein of bean golden mosaic geminivirus.
• Molecular genetic and functional characterization of bromovirus systemic infection and host specificity.
• Effects of Verticillium dahliae on gas exchange and water relations of potato.

The graduate student body is governed by the Plant Pathology Graduate Council (PPGC). This group of six students, which are selected on an annual basis, represents students' concerns at faculty meetings, provides coffee for seminars, and plans departmental recreational activities. The PPGC has also developed a student handbook outlining opportunities for work and play on the Madison campus.

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