BTI’s Greg Martin elected to National Academy

Greg Martin, Boyce Schulze Downey Professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute and Professor in the College of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) at Cornell University, has been elected to the Nationwide Academy of Sciences.

Martin is one of 150 new associates declared on Could 3. The business acknowledges his distinguished and continuing achievements in primary plant science research, especially for furthering the being familiar with of plant–microbe interactions.

At BTI, scientists in Martin’s lab study the molecular foundation of bacterial pathogenesis and the plant immune program. The extensive-expression goal of his investigate is to use expertise received about the molecular basis of plant–pathogen interactions to establish plants with enhanced normal resistance to diseases.

“In our environment of discovery analysis, currently being elected to the Countrywide Academy of Sciences is a important and scarce honor,” reported BTI President David Stern. “As 1 of our most highly regarded college, and as somebody who has systematically and drastically amplified our knowledge of plant–microbe interactions, Greg is most deserving of this skilled recognition.”

The Martin lab largely focuses on speck disorder of tomato, which is induced by infection of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. Speck sickness is an economically vital ailment that can decrease the yield and excellent of tomatoes, and is also an fantastic experimental system for researching the molecular mechanisms that underlie plant–pathogen interactions.

In the 1990’s, Martin created strategies for working with genetic linkage maps to isolate genes from tomato and cloned the Pto gene, which confers immunity to bacterial speck disease. In 2021, his lab found a new gene, Ptr1, that allows protect tomatoes from a different type of speck-triggering P. syringae.

“It is a fantastic honor to receive this recognition of the investigation carried out in my lab about the earlier 30 several years by a sequence of gifted graduate pupils, postdocs, undergraduates and research assistants,” said Martin. “I have been lucky to have a joint appointment at BTI and Cornell, and I have benefited greatly from the collegiality, collaborative spirit and wide scientific know-how that is a hallmark of both of those institutions.”

Martin gained his doctorate in genetics from Michigan Point out College in 1989. Adhering to a postdoctoral fellowship in Steve Tanksley’s lab at Cornell University, he turned an Assistant Professor in the Division of Agronomy at Purdue College in 1992, rising to Affiliate Professor in 1996. In 1998, he recognized a joint appointment at BTI and in Cornell’s Division of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology. Martin was named Boyce Schulze Downey Professor at BTI in 2005.

Martin was awarded a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship in 1995 and is a fellow of the American Association for the Progression of Science (2004) and American Academy of Microbiology (2005). He received the Noel Eager Award for Excellence in Molecular Plant Pathology from the American Phytopathological Modern society in 2010.

The NAS is a non-public, nonprofit establishment that was founded under a congressional constitution signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Now, it has about 2,400 energetic customers and 500 international associates. The NAS recognizes accomplishment in science by election to membership, and—with the Countrywide Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine—provides science, engineering, and health and fitness plan information to the federal governing administration and other companies.

About Boyce Thompson Institute:

Opened in 1924, Boyce Thompson Institute is a leading life sciences research establishment positioned in Ithaca, New York. BTI scientists carry out investigations into basic plant and lifestyle sciences analysis with the objectives of expanding foods safety, bettering environmental sustainability in agriculture, and producing essential discoveries that will improve human well being. During this perform, BTI is fully commited to inspiring and educating college students and to delivering superior teaching for the subsequent technology of researchers. BTI is an independent nonprofit investigate institute that is also affiliated with Cornell University. For far more details, you should check out BTIscience.org.

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