James Daley
Former Horticulture - PhD
Bio
- Degree Program: PhD, Horticulture Science
- Previous Degrees: B.S., Biotechnology, Brigham Young University; M.S., Plant and Environment Science, Clemson University
- Advisor: Dr. Todd Wehner
- Dissertation: Screening for Resistance to Bacterial Fruit Blotch in Watermelon Fruit.
- Dissertation Date: 2018-04-13
Research
Research: I will be working to identify sources of resistance to bacterial fruit blotch in watermelon. This will involve the development and adaptation of novel resistance assays for both the seedling and fruit developmental stages. As part of this research, isolates from North Carolina will be collected, sequenced, and combined with other common isolates, which will then be used screen over 1600 watermelon cultigens. Identified resistance will be selected for and crossed in order to study the inheritance of BFB resistance and to make lines exhibiting extraordinary resistance available to breeders. In addition, this research will be combined with previous screenings conducted here at NCSU to provide an overall picture of available germplasm resistance to this devastating disease.