Speakers & Organising Committee
Confirmed Speakers
Dr. Yun received his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Nanjing Agricultural University, China, in 2012. During his doctoral studies, he participated in joint training at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. In 2015, he conducted research on biological control in the Department of Biology at Northeastern University, USA, as a visiting scholar. His research interests include, 1) Biological Control of Plant Diseases, Exploring beneficial microbial resources from different ecosystems for biocontrol of plant diseases, elucidating the biocontrol mechanisms of biocontrol agents. Currently focusing on biocontrol bacteria such as Pantoea agglomerans, Pseudomonas chlororaphis, and Bacillus species. Identifying antimicrobial compounds secreted by these biocontrol bacteria and understanding their biosynthetic regulation through key signaling pathways, such as two-component systems and cyclic di-GMP. 2) Fungal Biology, Studying important pathogenic fungi, particularly Fusarium species. Investigating fungal genomic diversity, pathogenic mechanisms, and mycotoxin synthesis, using integrated approaches to identify new drug targets and develop new chemical fungicides.
Dr. Mackey obtained his Ph.D. studying Epstein-Barr Virus DNA replication in human lymphoid cells under the mentorship of Dr. Bill Sugden at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He transitioned to molecular plant pathology as a postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. Jeff Dangl at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. One longstanding focus of his research is the plant immune system, including how bacterial effector proteins, dependent on host genetics, either activate or suppress host defenses. A second focus of his research is how bacterial effectors, through perturbation of host physiology, create a water- and nutrient-rich niche within the intracellular spaces of host plants.
Dr. Tambong is a Senior Research Scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada since 2006, Team Lead of Mycology & Bacteriology Study Group and an Adjunct Professor, University of Manitoba. Dr. Tambong’s research is focused on molecular bacterial taxonomy, phylogenomics, identification, detection, phylogenetics and biodiversity of plant pathogenic and agricultural beneficial (biocontrol) bacteria. Target bacterial genera are Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas, and Clavibacter. Also, his laboratory uses CRISPR/Cas9 gene knockout technology to investigate the involvement of biosynthetic clusters in the biological control activity of Pseudomonas strains. Dr. Tambong attained a Ph. D. from University of Ghent (Belgium), a M.Sc from Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (USA) and an “Ingénieur Agronome” degree from The University of Dschang, Cameroon. He conducted post-doctoral research at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. He is one of the recipients of the 2010 Agriculture and Agri-Food Research Branch Science Achievement Award for research excellence on DNA array technology. Dr. Tambong has published 79 peer-reviewed articles in impactful scientific journals and authored/co-authored the descriptions of several new bacterial species. He is member of the American Society for Microbiology, The Canadian Phytopathological Society, and American Phytopathological Society (APS) where he serves in three committees: Bacteriology, Evolutionary Genetics & Genomics, and Plant Pathogen and Disease Detection. Tambong is past chair of the 2007 APS Tropical Plant Pathology Committee. He is an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Microbiology, BioControl Journal and Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology.
Dr Jeannie Klein-Gordon first became engaged in plant pathology research during her undergraduate Honors thesis program with Drs. Virginia Stockwell and Joyce Loper at USDA Agricultural Research Services (ARS) in Oregon. During her time at USDA ARS / Oregon State University, she studied environmental and genotypic factors affecting disease efficacy, colonization and survival, and modes of action to enhance biocontrol success of Pantoea vagans C9-1, a biological control agent for fire blight of apple and pear. She completed her Ph.D. program at the University of Florida (UF) under the guidance of Drs. Erica Goss, Jeff Jones, and Gary Vallad, with funding from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship program. While at UF, her studies focused on bacterial spot of tomato (Xanthomonas spp.), with projects including identification of environmental and agricultural production system factors responsible for pathogen population shifts using whole genomics, elucidation of a novel antimicrobial compound, and identification of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. She then studied causal agents of blueberry stem blights with Dr. Timothy Miles, and population biology and evaluation of disease management strategies of Phytophthora blight of cucurbits with Dr. Mary Hausbeck with support from the USDA NIFA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Postdoctoral Fellowship program, all at Michigan State University.
Dr. Klein-Gordon joined the USDA ARS Crop Bioprotection Unit in Peoria, Illinois, as a Research Plant Pathologist in December 2023. Her research program integrates conventional microbiological methods and advanced molecular and bioinformatics techniques to develop a better understanding of microbial diversity, population changes, and antimicrobial modes of action. Dr. Klein-Gordon’s overall passion is to help farmers sustainably grow nutritious foods to feed our planet through effective plant pathogen management. She is excited to continue developing her new research program and expand collaborations with a diversity of researchers and stakeholders throughout the United States and worldwide.
Dr. Valenzuela specializes in the phenotypic and molecular characterization of phytopathogenic bacteria. She works at the Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Fruticultura, CEAF and was previously an agronomist at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile. She obtained her Master in Plant Technology at the current L’Institut Agro Rennes-Angers, in Angers France. His doctorate in biotechnology was completed at the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, in Valparaíso, Chile. She has worked in the private sector in the field of seed production and currently works as an adjunct researcher at the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María. Her research topics includes the study of the diversity, virulence and chemical and biological control of phytopathogenic bacteria. She works in collaboration with researchers both nationally and internationally. She is the current president of the Chilean Society of Phytopathology. Additionally, she advises agricultural companies and farmers on issues related to plant pathology.
Prof. Dagan graduated her PhD in 2005 and moved to Germany for her postdoctoral studies. Since 2013 she is a professor of evolutionary microbiology at Kiel University. Her main research interest is microbial genome evolution via lateral gene transfer with a focus on the evolution of prokaryotic plasmids. Her working group is studying the evolution of Pantoea plasmids and their contribution to P. agglomerans colonisation of wheat.
Yoshihiko is a deputy general manager of Research Institute for Bioscience Products ＆ Fine Chemicals, Ajinomoto CO., INC. He graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1998 with a master’s degree in biotechnology. I took an entry-level position at Ajinomoto CO., INC. directly after graduation and was promoted to my current position in 2022. I have been working on the fermentation production of useful substances using microorganisms for a long time. My first job after joining the company was research for amino acid production using Pantoea, and I have been involved with Pantoea for over 25 years. He Recently became very interested in environmentally friendly production systems, especially fermentation process that use carbon dioxide as a raw material.
Virginia Stockwell is a plant pathologist, who began studying the potential of Pantoea strains as biological control agents for fire blight of pear and apple in the 1990s. She studied the influence of environmental conditions in orchards that affected establishment, growth, and secondary spread of pantoeas among flowers. This information was used for the development of a simple model to inform growers of when to apply Pantoea biological control agents. Through field trials, she determined that antibiosis by Pantoea agglomerans significantly improved control of fire blight compared to a non-antibiotic producing mutant. She also found that combining P. vagans strain C9-1 with the biological control agent Pseudomonas fluorescens A506 increased population sizes of C9-1 on flowers, but surprisingly did not improve biological control efficacy of fire blight. Subsequently, she determined that an extracellular metalloprotease produced by A506 inactivated the peptide antibiotics of C9-1. Stockwell worked with researchers in Dr. Brion Duffy’s program to publish the genomic sequence of C9-1. In collaboration with Dr. Jeannie Klein-Gordon, we found that the large Pantoea plasmid (LPP-1 group) was not essential for floral colonization by C9-1 in field settings. Overall, Stockwell’s research on P. vagans C9-1 was foundational for the successful registration of the strain as a commercial biological control agent for fire blight
Organising Committee
Prof. Kvitko earned his PhD in microbiology from Cornell University in 2009 and joined the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Georgia in 2015. His research group uses genetics, genomics, and molecular biology to dissect the mechanisms of plant immunity and bacterial virulence. He has a strong focus on characterizing the molecular interactions between onions and their bacterial pathogens, Pantoea in particular.
Much of Prof Coutinho’s research career (25 years) has focused on trying to understand how Pantoea ananatis functions as a plant pathogen in Eucalyptus. Since having the genome sequences of P. ananatis strains, she has conducted both comparative and functional genomic projects. This research has (to some extent) allowed them to understand how this bacterium functions and survives in diverse ecological niches. In addition to this research, she has also been involved in describing a number of novel Pantoea species, for example, P. allii, P. wallisii, P. eucalypti, P. vagans and more recently P. trifolii.
Dr. Bhabesh Dutta is a Professor and an Extension Vegetable Pathologist in the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia. His work focuses on the biology, host-pathogen interactions, host-resistance and management of onion diseases caused by Pantoea particularly those caused by P. ananatis, P. allii, and P. stewartii subsp. indologenes. He has published 91 peer-reviewed journal articles, six book chapters, numerous abstracts and has been successful in securing Federal Grants as a PI or Co-PI totaling $38.5 million dollars.
Prof. Vinatzer is a Professor at Virginia Tech’s School of Plant and Environmental Sciences. His research spans from molecular plant-microbe interactions to molecular evolution and taxonomy of plant pathogenic bacteria. He takes advantage of the revolution in DNA sequencing technology to develop bioinformatics tools for precise and fast detection, classification, and identification of plant pathogens and biocontrol agents, including members of the genus Pantoea. A second area of research focuses on environmental microbes that may play a role in the formation of precipitation through their ice nucleation activity, again, including members of the genus Pantoea. Dr. Vinatzer also teaches an interdisciplinary undergraduate course in Microbial Forensics and Biosecurity and graduate courses in Bacterial Plant Pathology and Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. Dr. Vinatzer’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Agriculture of the USA. He has received several awards for his research and his advising of PhD students, he has presented his work at numerous international conferences and universities, and he has published over 100 peer-reviewed research articles, review articles, books, and book-chapters. Dr. Vinatzer also served as Head of his Department from 2015-2018.
Dr. Brady obtained her PhD in microbiology from the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 2008 working on a project to evaluate the taxonomy of the genus Pantoea using a multigene approach with specific focus on plant-pathogenic strains from Eucalyptus. The results from this project, and subsequent post doctoral fellowships, resulted in taxonomic rearrangements and novel genus, species and subspecies descriptions in the genera Pantoea, Enterobacter, Brenneria and Dickeya. She is a bacterial taxonomist by training, and her current research focuses on tree pathogens particularly those associated with acute oak decline (AOD) and more recently, bleeding cankers of other broadleaf hosts including Tilia. Her lab uses molecular methods to identify and classify the bacterial species responsible for causing disease on tree hosts
to develop novel screening techniques to detect common bacteria isolated from diseased plant tissue and also examine possible synergistic relationships between the bacteria and routes of infection from possible reservoirs such as rhizosphere soil. She works closely with Forest Research and Westonbirt Arboretum. I am leading PhD projects on management of AOD in parkland oak and determining the threat to Tilia health, part-funded by the charities Woodland Heritage and Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum, respectively.
Prof. Kim did his Ph.D in Plant Microbiology at the Seoul National University, in Seoul in 2006. During 2006 and 2007 he did his Postdoctoral Scholar, whereafter he did his Postdoctoral Scholar between 2007 and 2010 at the University of Indiana, in Bloomington. Jinwoo Kim is currently a professor in Plant Pathology at the Gyeongsang National University since 2010. His research interests are focused on bacterial sociology and multicellular behaviors via cell-to-cell communications.
Prof. Siri is currently a Full-Time Professor in Microbiology at the College of Chemistry, Universidad de la República, in Montevideo, Uruguay. Her primary research focus is on the characterization, diagnosis, and management of plant pathogenic bacteria. She works within an interdisciplinary group integrating the use of molecular approaches, “omics” technologies, and plant inoculation assays to characterize local pathogen populations, develop molecular diagnostic methods, and assist breeding programs for the selection of new resistant varieties. She is also interested in exploring the characterization of the plant microbiome and its role in resistance to pathogens.
Prof. Stodghill is a computational scientist for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. He is stationed in Ithaca, NY, USA on the Cornell University campus, where he has a courtesy appointment as a professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science. Prior to joining ARS he was a Senior Research Associate with Cornell’s Department of Computer Science. The Stodghill lab provides computation and ‘omics support for a number of USDA and Cornell research projects, mostly focused on bacterial diseases of specialty crops, including potatoes, tomatoes, beets, and various floral and nursery plants. Onions, bacterial diseases of onions, and especially Pantoea diseases of onions are of particular interest.
Prof. De Maayer was born an raised in Belgium and completed a Bachelor of Science and Honours degree at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), his Masters at University of Gent (Belgium) and his PhD at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. During the latter he worked on the pathogenicity determinants of Pantoea ananatis under the tutelage of Prof Teresa Coutinho, sequencing the first genome of the species. He subsequently completed several post-docs before taking up his current post as Associate Professor at Wits. He has published >50 papers (including eight on Pantoea), with research interests ranging from bacterial comparative genomics, taxonomy, extremophile biology and biotechnology, and lately sequencing the genomes of several indigenous African animals and plants and metagenomics. He keeps returning to his first love, Pantoea and has several research projects that touch on this fascinating genus.
After his MSc in Bioprocess Engineering at the University of Wageningen (NL), Prof. Dr. Theo H. M. Smits received his PhD in 2001 at the Institute of Biotechnology of the ETH in Zurich (CH), working on the microbial degradation of linear alkanes. After a few years as PostDoc in Lausanne (CH) and Constance (D), he moved in 2007 to the Agroscope Research Center in Wädenswil (CH), where he started to work with bacterial genome sequencing. His research focus was on the genomics of the fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora and of biocontrol strains against this disease. In 2013, he moved to the Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology research group at the ZHAW and expanded his research in the fields of plant pathology, microbial ecology and metagenomics. His current work includes genomics of proteobacterial plant pathogens belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae (Erwinia, Pantoea, Phytobacter) but also Pseudomonas and Xanthomonas. In 2012, he was asked to join the editorial board of BMC Genomics as an Associate Editor, became a Section Editor in 2015 and is now member of the Senior Editorial Board of this journal.
