Christine Smart

Academic appt: 50% research; 40% extension; 10% teaching

Areas of research and extension emphasis:

• Vegetable pathology and disease control specializing in bacterial and oomycete pathogens
• Population genomics, genotypic diversity and effector complement of plant pathogens
• Detection and identification of vegetable pathogens
• Public engagement

Outreach and Extension Focus

Diseases of vegetables cause significant losses to growers in New York and around the world. My lab utilizes genomic tools to understand the diversity of plant pathogen populations. This information is used to identify and track pathogen movement. This information is coupled with applied research on host resistance and efficacy of available control products to provide science-based disease management options for growers.

Vegetable production in New York continues to thrive as we are fortunate to have a climate in which a great diversity of vegetables can be grown, and a knowledgeable and engaged group of growers. The goals of my extension program are two-fold. The first goal is to work with conventional, transitional and organic growers, seed companies, chemical companies and private consultants to improve vegetable disease management while promoting sustainable agricultural practices. My lab focuses primarily on bacterial and oomycete pathogens of vegetables. The second goal is to develop and promote partnerships between Cornell University and elementary school educators and students to increase awareness of agriculture. The two goals are very integrated, as much of my elementary science outreach work is focused on vegetables and nutrition. As the percentage of the population that farms decreases, it is critical to educate the rest of the population about where our food is produced and of the value of agriculture.

• Indermaur, EJ, Day, CTC, Dunn-Silver, AR, and Smart, CD. (2024) Biorational fungicides to manage cucurbit powdery mildew on winter squash in New York. Plant Health Progress In press https://doi.org/10.1094/PHP-11-23-0103-RS
• Stack, GM, Cala, AR, Quade, MA, Toth, JA, Monserrate, LA, Wilkerson, DG, Carlson, CH, Mamerto, A, Michael, TP, Crawford, S, Smart, CD, and Smart, LB (2024) Genetic mapping, identification, and characterization of a candidate susceptibility gene for powdery mildew in Cannabis sativa L. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 37:51-61. https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-04-23-0043-R
•  Andersen, T, Sudermann, MR, DeJong, DM, Francis, DM, Smart, CD, and Mutchler, MA (2023) Detection of trait donors and QTL boundaries for early blight resistance using local ancestry inference in a library of genomic sequences for tomato. The Plant Journal 117:404-415. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.16495
•  Rodriguez-Herrera, KD, Ma, X, Swingle, B, Pethybridge, SJ, Gonzalez-Giron, JL, Herrmann, TQ, Damann, K, and Smart, CD. (2023) First report of cucurbit yellow vine disease caused by Serratia marcescens on cucurbits in New York. Plant Disease 107:3276.  https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-23-1051-PDN.
• Munir, M, Kesheimer, K, Bolt, M, Zuefle, M, Aronson, E, Ricciardi, M, Schluttenhofer, C, Joly, D, Henry, S, Coburn, J, Franco Da Cunha Leme Filho, J, Rondon, S, Smart, C, Collins, A, Garfinkel, A, Gauthier, N. (2023) Occurrence and distribution of common diseases and pests of US Cannabis: a survey. Plant Health Progress 24:498-507. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHP-01-23-0004-S
• Nieto-Lopez, EH, Cerritos-Garcia, DG, Koch Bach, RA, Petka, A, Smart, CD, Hoepting, CA, Langston, D, Rideout, S, Dutta, B, Everhart, SE. (2023) Species identification and fungicide sensitivity of fungi causing Alternaria leaf blight and head rot in cole crops in the eastern US. Plant Disease 107:1310-1315. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-22-1318-SC
• Giles, G, Indermaur, EJ, Gonzalez-Giron, JL, Herrmann, TQ, Shelnutt, SS, Starr, JK, Myers, K, Jensen, SL, Bergstrom, GC, Crawford, JL, Hansen, JL, Smart, LB, and Smart CD (2023) First report of downy mildew caused by Pseudoperonospora cannabina on Cannabis sativa in New York. Plant Disease 107: 1638 https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-08-22-1930-PDN
• Indermaur EJ, Day CTC, and Smart CD (2023) First report of Didymella rhei causing leaf spot on rhubarb in New York. Plant Disease 107: 222 https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-22-0573-PDN
• Vogel, G, Giles, G, Robbins, KR, Gore, MA, and Smart CD (2022). Quantitative genetic analysis of interactions in the pepper- Phytophthora capsici pathosystem. Molecular Plant-Microber Interactions 35:1018-1033 https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-12-21-0307-R
• Dubrow, ZE, Carpenter, SCD, Carter, ME, Grinage, A, Gris, C, Audran, C, Butchachas, J, Jacobs, JM, Smart, CD, Tancos, MA, Noel, LD, and Bogdanove, AJ (2022) Cruciferous weed isolates of Xanthomonas campestris yield insight into pathovar genomic relationships and genetic determinants of host- and tissue-specificity. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 35:791-802 https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-01-22-0024-R
• Crowell, CR, Wilkerson, DG, Smart, LB and Smart CD (2022) Evidence of asexual overwintering of Melampsora paradoxa and mapping of stem rust host resistance in Salix. Plants 11:2385. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11182385
• Sudermann, MR, McGlip, L, Regnier, M, Rodriguez Jaramillo, A, Vogel, G, and Smart, CD (2022) The diversity of Passalora fulva isolates collected from tomato plants in US high tunnels. Phytopathology 112:1350-1360. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-06-21-0244-R
• Crowell, CR, Wilkerson, DG, Bekauri, M, Cala, A, McMullen, P, Mondo, S, Andreopoulos, W, Lipzen, A, Lail, K, Yan, M, Ng, V, Grigoriev, I, Smart, LB, and Smart CD (2022) The Melampsora americana population on Salix purpurea in the Great Lakes Region is highly diverse with a contributory influence of clonality. Phytopathology 112:907-916. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-05-21-0201-R

Presentations and Activities

• Leveraging genomic data to help farmers manage Phytophthora. October 2018. Oregon State University. Corvalis, OR.
• Following sexual and asexual populations of Phytophthora. April 2018. North Carolina State University. Raleigh NC.
• Breeding for downy mildew resistance in cucumber. Cucurbitaceae. October 2014. Bay Harbor, MI.