Research Fellow
DuPont Agricultural Enterprise
P.O. Box 80402
Wilmington, DE 19880-0402
Phone: 302-695-2187
Fax: 302-694-4509
Email: barbara.s.valent@usa.dupont.com
Current Research Interests:
Parallel genetics / functional genomics of the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea, and its host, rice (Oryza sativa). Analysis of the AVR-Pita / Pi-ta resistance gene system for elucidation of gene-for-gene recognition mechanisms, defense signal transduction pathways and defense responses. Understanding avirulence gene functions in the infection process. Population biology of fungal avirulence genes as an aid to R gene deployment. Understanding and contributing to development of durable disease resistance in rice and other crops.
EDUCATION:
Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of Colorado (Boulder) Characterizing molecular components of the soybean pathogen, Phytophthora sojae, that elicit the phytoalexin defense response. (1978); Advisor: Dr. Peter Albersheim
NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Cornell University, Yeast molecular genetics (1980-1982); Advisor: Dr. Gerald R. Fink
POSITIONS AT DUPONT:
1997 - Present Research Fellow, Technical Leader, Genetic Disease Resistance,
AG
1994 - 1997 Research Manager, Plant and Fungal Genetics/Molecular Biology,
CR&D
1992 - 1994 Research Leader, Molecular Plant Pathology, CR&D
1985 - 1992 Research Scientist, CR&D
Selected Lectures: Keynote Lecture, American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting (1989); Garrett Memorial Lecture, British Society of Plant Pathology (1994); 1st Annual John S. Karling Lecture, Mycological Society of America (1996)
Selected Professional Activities outside DuPont: Board of Trustees, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) Cali, Colombia (Currently); University of Delaware/DuPont Plant Biology and Biotechnology PhD Program (Currently); Electorate Nominating Committee, AAAS Section O (1996-2000); Chairperson, Gordon Conference on Fungal Metabolism (1990)
Professional Societies: American Phytopathological Society; International
Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions; Mycological Society of
America; American Association for the Advancement of Science, North American
Mycological Association
SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS:
Sweigard, J.A., A.M. Carroll, S. Kang, L. Farrall, F.G. Chumley and B. Valent. 1995. Cloning and characterization of PWL2, a gene from the rice blast fungus controlling host-species specificity. The Plant Cell 7: 1221-1233.
Kang, S., J.A. Sweigard and B. Valent. 1995. The PWL host specificity gene family in the blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 8: 949-959.
Howard, R.J. and B. Valent. 1996. Breaking and entering: host penetration by the fungal rice blast pathogen, Magnaporthe grisea. Annual Review of Microbiology 50:491-512.
Valent, B. 1997. The rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea. In The Mycota V Part B, Plant Relationships. (edited by G. Carroll and P. Tudzynski) Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Pages 37-54.
Sweigard, J. A., A. M. Carroll, L. Farrall, F. G. Chumley and B. Valent. 1998. Magnaporthe grisea pathogenicity genes obtained through insertional mutagenesis. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 11:404-412.
Orbach, M. J., L. Farrall, J. A. Sweigard, F. G. Chumley and B. Valent. 2000. A telomeric avirulence gene determines efficacy of the rice blast resistance gene Pi-ta. The Plant Cell 12:2019-2032.
Bryan, G. T., K.-S. Wu, L. Farrall, Y. Jia, H. P. Hershey, S. A. McAdams, K. N. Faulk, G. K. Donaldson, R. Tarchini, and B. Valent. 2000. A single amino acid difference distinguishes resistant and susceptible alleles of the rice blast resistance gene Pi-ta. The Plant Cell 12:2033-2046.
Jia, Y., S. A. McAdams, G. T. Bryan, H. P. Hershey and B. Valent. 2000. Direct Interaction of resistance gene and avirulence gene products confers rice blast resistance. The EMBO Journal 19:4004-4014.
Thompson, J. E., S. Fahnestock, L. Farrall, D.-I. Liao, B. Valent and D. B. Jordan. The second naphthol reductase of fungal melanin biosynthesis in Magnaporthe grisea, tetrahydroxynaphthalene reductase. The Journal of Biological Chemistry 275:34867-34872.
D.-I. Liao, G. S. Basarab, A. A. Gatenby, B. Valent and D. B. Jordan. 2001. Structures of trihydroxynaphthalene reductase-fungicide complexes: implications for structure-based design, an active-site water molecule, and substrate specificity. Structure, In Press.
Kang, S., M. H. Lebrun, L. Farrall and B. Valent. Spontaneous gain of virulence by insertion of MGR586, an inverted repeat transposon in the rice blast fungus. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Accepted for Publication.
Favorite links:
International Center for Tropical Agriculture
DuPont Participating Scientists
Created July
1998
Last updated
December 11, 2000
Copyright
©University
of Delaware, 1998.