Jason Smith
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida
Contact
Research Summary
I specialize in biology, diagnosis and management of fungal diseases, with emphasis on new and emerging tree health issues.
http://sfrc.ufl.edu/forestpathology/
Current projects
Developing laurel-wilt resistant redbays
Diagnosis and population genetics of Raffaelea lauricola
Phylogenetic analysis of the genus Raffaelea
Biology and management of canker disease of the endangered conifer Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia)
Understanding co-evolution, heteroecism and phylogeopgraphy of rust fungi
Biology and management of Diplodia canker of live oaks in Florida
Epidemiology and influence of host stress on Diplodia blight of slash pine in central Florida
Short Bio & Education
PhD, University of Minnesota, 2005
MS, University of Minnesota, 2001
BS, Geneva College, 1998
Publications
Dreaden, T.J., Davis, J.M., Harmon, C.L., Ploetz, R.C., Palmateer, A.J. and J.A. Smith. 2013. Development of multilocus PCR assays for Raffaelea lauricola, causal agent of laurel wilt disease. Plant Disease. 98:379-3
Dreaden, T.J., Black, A.W., Mullerin, S. and J.A. Smith. 2013. First report of Diplodia quercivora causing shoot dieback and branch cankers on live oak (Quercus virginiana) in the USA. Plant Disease.
Hughes, M and J.A. Smith. 2013. Vegetative propagation of putatively laurel wilt-resistant redbay (Persea borbonia). Native Plants Journal 15: 42-50.
Machado-Caballero, J. E., Lockhart, B. E., Mason, S. L., Mollov, D., and J. A. Smith. 2013. Identification, transmission, and partial characterization of a previously undescribed flexivirus causing a mosaic disease of ash (Fraxinus spp.) in the USA. Online. Plant Health Progress doi:10.1094/PHP-2013-0509-01-RS.
Kasson, M.T., K O’Donnell, A. P. Rooney, S. Sink, R. C. Ploetz. J. N. Ploetz; J. Konkol, D. Carrillo, S. Freeman, Z. Mendel, J. A. Smith, A. W. Black, J. Hulcr, C. Bateman, K. Stefkova, P. R. Campbell, A. D. Geering, E. K. Dann, A. Eskalen, K. Mohotti, D. P. Short, T. Aoki, K. A. Fenstermacher, D. D. Davis, D. M. Geiser. 2013. An inordinate fondness for Fusarium: Phylogenetic diversity of fusaria cultivated by ambrosia beetles in the genus Euwallacea on avocado and other plant hosts. Fungal Genetics and Biology 56: 147-157.
Hughes, M. A., Brar, G., Ploetz, R. C., and Smith, J. A. 2013. Field and growth chamber inoculations demonstrate Persea indica as a newly recognized host for the laurel wilt pathogen, Raffaelea laurciola. Online. Plant Health Progress doi:10.1094/PHP-2013-08XX-01-BR.
Spence, D., J.A. Smith, J. Hulcr, A.E. Mayfield, R.C. Ploetz and L. Stelinski. 2013. Effect of chipping on emergence of the redbay ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) and recovery of the laurel wilt pathogen from infested in wood chips. Journal of Economic Entomology 106: 2093-2100.
Spence, D., M. Hughes, and J.A. Smith. 2013. Laurel wilt: An exceptionally damaging exotic symbiosis that threatens Florida’s forests. Journal of Florida Studies 1(2): Online (http://www.journaloffloridastudies.org/0102laurelwilt.html)
Aoki, T., Smith, J., Mount, L.L., Geiser, D.M., O’Donnell, K. 2013. Fusarium torreyae sp. nov., a novel pathogen causing canker disease of Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia), a critically endangered conifer restricted to northern Florida and southwestern Georgia. Mycologia 105(2): 312-319.
Peña, P.E., D. Carrillo R. E. Duncan, J. L. Capinera, G. Brar, S. McLean,M. L. Arpaia, E. Focht, J. A. Smith, M. Hughes and P. E. Kendra. 2012. Susceptibility of Persea spp. and other Lauraceae to attack by redbay ambrosia beetle, Xyleborus glabratus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Florida Entomologist 95(3): 783-787.
Ploetz, R.C., J. M. Perez-Martınez, J. A. Smith, M. Hughes, T. J. Dreaden, S. A. Inch and Y. Fu. 2012. Responses of avocado to laurel wilt, caused by Raffaelea lauricola. Plant Pathology 61 (4): 801-808.
Dreaden, T.J., J. A. Smith, G.M. Blakeslee and E.L. Barnard. 2012. Development and evaluation of a real-time PCR seed lot screening method for Fusarium circinatum, causal agent of pitch canker disease. Forest Pathology 42(5): 405-411.
Hughes, M. A., Shin, K., Eickwort, J. and Smith, J. A. 2012. First Report of Laurel Wilt Disease Caused by Raffaelea lauricola on Silk Bay in Florida. Plant Disease 96 (6): 910.
Hughes, M., J. A. Smith, A. E. Mayfield, III, M. C. Minno, and K. Shin. 2011. First report of laurel wilt disease caused by Raffaelea lauricola on pondspice in Florida. Plant Disease 95: 1588.
Ploetz, R. C., J. E. Peña, J. A. Smith, T. J. Dreaden, J. H. Crane, T. Schubert, and W. Dixon. 2011. Laurel Wilt, Caused by Raffaelea lauricola, is Confirmed in Miami-Dade County, Center of Florida’s Commercial Avocado Production. Plant Disease 95: 1589.
Dreaden, T.J., J.A. Smith and K. Shin. 2011. First report of Diplodia corticola causing branch cankers on live oak (Quercus virginiana) in Florida. Plant Disease 95: 1027.
Smith, J.A., K. O’Donnell, L.L. Mount, K. Shin, K. Peacock, A. Trulock, T. Spector, J. Cruse-Sanders and R. Determann. 2011. A novel Fusarium causes a canker disease of the critically endangered conifer, Torreya taxifolia. Plant Disease 95: 633-639.
Croxton, M., M. Andreu, D. Williams, W. Overholt and J.A. Smith. 2011. Source and diversity of air-potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) in Florida. Invasive Plant Science and Management 4: 22-30.
Damadi, M., M.H. Pei, J.A. Smith and M. Abbasi. 2010. A new species of Melampsora rust on Salix elbursensis from Iran. Forest Pathology. Article first published online 7 Dec., 2010; DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0329.2010.00699.x
Kubisiak, T.L., C.L. Anderson, H.V. Amerson, J.A. Smith, J.M. Davis and C.D. Nelson. 2010. A genomic map enriched for markers linked to Avr1 in Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme. Fungal Genetics and Biology 48: 266-274.
Anderson, C.L., T.L. Kubisiak, J.A. Smith, J.M. Davis and C.D. Nelson. 2010. Genome size variation in the pine fusiform rust pathogen Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme as determined by flow cytometry. Mycologia 102: 1295-1302.
Riggins, J.J., M. Hughes, A. E. Mayfield III, B. Layton, C. Balbalian, R. Campbell and J. A. Smith. 2010. First occurrence of laurel wilt disease on redbay trees in Mississippi. Plant Disease 94: 634.
King, J.N., A.J. David and J.A. Smith. 2010. A review of genetic approaches to the management of blister rust in white pines. Forest Pathology 40: 292-313.
Smith, J.A., T.J. Dreaden, M. Hughes, A.E. Mayfield III, A. Boone, S.W. Fraedrich and C. Bates. 2009. First report of laurel wilt disease caused by Raffaelea lauricola on sassafras in Florida and South Carolina. Plant Disease 93: 1079.
Smith, J. A., L.L. Mount, A.E. Mayfield III, C.A. Bates, W.A. Lamborn and S.W. Fraedrich. 2009. First report of laurel wilt disease caused by Raffaelea lauricola on camphor in Florida and Georgia. Plant Disease 93: 198.
Mayfield, A.E., J.E. Pena, J.H. Crane, Smith, J.A., C.L. Branch, E.D. Ottoson, and M. Hughes. 2008. Ability of the redbay ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) to bore into young avocado (Lauraceae) plants and transmit the laurel wilt pathogen (Raffaelea sp.). Florida Entomologist 91: 485-487.
Mayfield, A.E., J.A. Smith, M. Hughes, and T.J. Dreaden. 2008. First report of laurel wilt disease caused by a Raffaelea sp. on avocado in Florida. Plant Disease 92: 976.
Burnes, T.A., J.A. Smith, R.A. Blanchette, and J.J. Luby. 2008. Black currant clonal identity and white pine blister rust resistance. HortScience 43: 200-202.
Mayfield, A.E., E.L. Barnard, J.A. Smith, S.C. Bernick, J.M. Eickwort, and T.J. Dreaden. 2008. Effect of propiconazole on laurel wilt disease development in redbay trees and on the pathogen in vitro. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 34: 312-324.
Schwingle, B. W., J.A. Smith, and R. A. Blanchette. 2007. Phytophthora species associated with diseased woody ornamentals in Minnesota nurseries. Plant Disease 91: 97-102.
Schwingle, B. W., J. A. Smith, R. A. Blanchette, S. Gould, and B. Blanchette, J. L. Pokorny, and S. D. Cohen. 2006. First report of dieback and leaf lesions on Rhododendron spp. caused by Phytophthora hedraiandra in the United States. Plant Disease 90: 109.
Smith, J.A., R.A. Blanchette, J.J. Jacobs, L. Higgins, B. A. Witthun, J. H. Gillman and A. J. David. 2006. Proteomic comparison of needles from blister rust-resistant and susceptible Pinus strobus seedlings reveals up-regulation of putative disease resistance proteins. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 19: 150-160.
Smith, J.A., R.A. Blanchette, T.A. Burnes, J.H. Gillman and A. J. David. 2006. Epicuticular wax and white pine blister rust resistance in selections of Pinus strobus L. Phytopathology 96: 171-177.
Smith, J.A., R.A. Blanchette, and G. Newcombe. 2004. Molecular and morphological characterization of the willow rust fungus, Melampsora epitea, from arctic and temperate hosts in North America. Mycologia 96: 1330-1338.
Gillman, J.H., D. Zlesak, and J.A. Smith. 2003. Application of potassium-silicate reduces black spot infection of Rosa ‘Meipelta’ (Fuschia Meidilin®). HortScience 38: 1144-1147.
Smith, J.A., R.A. Blanchette, M.E. Ostry and N.A. Anderson. 2002. Etiology of bronzeleaf disease of Populus. Plant Disease 86: 462-469.
Books & Reviews
List of book reviews.
Invited Lectures
List of invited lectures.