Takshay Patel
Former Horticulture - PhD
Bio
- Degree Program: PhD, Horticulture Science
- Previous Degrees: M.S., Horticulture Science, NC State University; B.Sc., Biotechnology, Pune University, India; B.Sc., Plant Biotechnology, Pune University, India
- PhD Advisors: Dr. Todd Wehner; Dr. Hudson Ashrafi
- Dissertation: Studies on Anthracnose Resistance in Watermelon Germplasm.
- Dissertation Date: 2018-11-20
- MS Advisors: Dr. John Williamson; Dr. Dilip Panthee
- Thesis: Role of Mannitol dehydrogenase in Fungal Resistance in Tomato (Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria solani).
- Thesis Date: 2014-10-29
Research
My research is focused on Watermelon anthracnose. To screen the whole watermelon germplasm for resistance against anthracnose race 1 and 2, and develop SNPs using genotype-by-sequencing protocol. Then perform Genome-wide-association-study (GWAS) using the phenotypic and genotypic data. A population of the most resistant and susceptible accessions will be used to validate the SNPs. The phenotypic screening of watermelon germplasm is useful to find accessions with higher anthracnose resistance to be be used in breeding programs. Further, as there are no known watermelons with combined resistance to anthracnose race 1 and 2, while screening I expect to find accessions with combined race 1 and 2 resistance. If not then crosses will be made between race 1 and race 2 resistant accessions to create and study such population. Similarly, the genotypic data is generated from whole germplasm it can be used to find SNPs for any other trait. The genomic work will be a great aid for modernizing the watermelon breeding at NC State University.