Plant Pathology

Grassland Study Examines Soil Viral Diversity in Drought Conditions

Viral communities across a grassland area are not uniform, and understanding viral dynamics could lead to better insight into how bacteria in soil will react to drought and other climate changes, according to research out of UC Davis.

Viruses can affect microbes, the food web, the carbon cycle and other ecosystem processes, including controlling bacteria.

Plant pathologist Joanne Emerson receives Department of Energy early career award

Plant pathologist Joanne Emerson is one of 76 scientists from across the nation to receive significant federal funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) in its Early Career Research Program.

Emerson is an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Pathology who studies soil viruses, virtually unknown members of the soil microbiome with a potentially significant influence on biogeochemical processes in many different terrestrial ecosystems. She will receive at least $150,000 per year from DOE for five years to cover personnel and research expenses.

The Survivors: Sugar Pine Trees and the Future Forest

Planting Genetic Resilience Into Forests in the Face of Climate Change

California’s drought and bark-beetle infestation killed more than 129 million trees between 2012 and 2016 in the Sierra Nevada. But amid the devastation stood some survivors.

Can Science Save Citrus?

Farmers, researchers try to hold off deadly disease long enough to find a cure

In an orange grove outside Exeter, California, workers climb aluminum ladders to pick fruit with expert speed. California produces 80 percent of the nation’s fresh oranges, tangerines and lemons, most of it in small Central California communities like these.

Ronald Elected to National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences announced today (April 30) the election of 125 members, including UC Davis’ Pam Ronald, distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Genome Center.

Of the 100 new national members, 40 are women — a record number and percentage in an academy election. This year’s class also includes 25 foreign associates. They join an academy that includes 190 Nobel Prize winners.