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Tomas
Rush
Graduate Student
E-mail:
trush@agcenter.lsu.edu
Major Professor:
Dr. Cathie
Aime
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Education:
Louisiana State
University, Baton Rouge, LA: B.S. Biological Engineering, December 2008
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Lakehead University,
Thunder Bay, ON, Canada Study abroad program in Chemical
Engineering 2006-2007
Area of Research:
Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which is the casual agent of
Asian Soybean Rust (ASR), has been known to infect a
variety of legume species in greenhouse studies and
field evaluations as possible alternative hosts. A
few of the known susceptible legume species in the
USA include: kudzu (Pueraria lobata), Florida beggar
weed (Desmodium tortuosum), dry bean (Phaseoulus
vulgaris), lima bean (P. lunatus), scarlet runner
bean (P. coccineus), and coral bean (Erythrina
herbacea). ASR is a potentially devastating disease
of soybean that can drastically reduce soybean yield
and productivity, and thus the disease is carefully
monitored in the United States. Based on the
information in the Integrated Pest Management for
Pest Information Platform for Extension and
Education monitoring system (Ipm-PIPE), New Iberia
and Iberville Parish in south Louisiana are
generally the first point of soybean infection after
P. pachyrhizi overwinters. This suggests that there
are alternative hosts in these parishes on which P.
pachyrhizi is capable of overwintering. Over 100
different species of legumes will be tested in a
field evaluation experiment to determine naturally
occurring alternative host that could be susceptible
to P. pachyrhizi. The most widely used tool for
detecting and monitoring the spread of ASR is the
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Assay for detecting
and discriminating between P. pachyrhizi and P.
meibomiae, based on the ITS gene. Samples of
Phakopsora pachyrhizi will be collected from
different parishes by random sampling and used to
evaluate the appropriateness of the ITS region as a
diagnostic assay.
Publications/Presentations:
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Kaur, R.,
Rush, T. A.,
Ferrin, D. M., and Aime, M. C. 2010.
First report of Puccinia thaliae rust on
Canna indica in Louisiana. Plant Disease,
Vol. 95, No. 3:353.
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Rush, T.A.
and Aime, M.C. 2010. Placement of
the yeast genus Moniliella in the
Ustilaginomycotina and description of a novel
Moniliella species. Inoculum 61:72.
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Assessing the Validity of
Diagnostic Quantitative PCR Assays for
Phakopsora pachyrhizi and P. meibomiae.
A presentation presented at the Southern Soybean
Disease Workshop on March 2011 in Pensacola, FL.
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The decline of commercial and
natural pine populations due to rust diseases.
A seminar presented at Louisiana State
University on October 2010 in Baton Rouge, LA.
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Placement of the yeast genus
Moniliella in the Ustilaginomycotina and
description of a novel Moniliella sp.
A poster presentation
at the Mycological Society of America meeting on
July 2010 in Lexington Ky.
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Design and
Fabrication of a Device for Measurement of
Running Shoe Degeneration.
A poster, presented with three other colleagues
at Louisiana State University on May 2008 in
Baton Rouge, LA.
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Aspergillus flavus,
the Silent Killer.
A poster presented at Lakehead University on
March 2007 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, CA.
Grant Awarded:
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Louisiana Board of Regents:
$8,000.
Does Phakopsora pachyrhizi
have an alternate host in Taiwan?
2011.
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Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of
Research: $400. 2010.
Honors and Achievements:
LSU Graduate Assistantship,
Mycological Society of America Travel Grant 2010,
Mycological Society of America Best Student Poster
Award 2010, Wiley D. Poole Memorial Scholarship
2008, Study Abroad Scholarship 2006-2007, NAFTA
Scholarship 2006-2007, TOPS Award 2004-2008, Dean’s
List 2004, 2007.
Memberships:
Explorers Club Student Member,
Mycological Society of America Member, American
Phytopathological Society Member, National Society
of Collegiate Scholars Member, NAFTA Undergraduate
Member, Big Buddy Program 2005, Biological
Engineering Student Organization 2007, Graduate
Student Association. |