Craig Yencho
William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor
Program Leader Sweetpotato and Potato Breeding and Genetics Programs
Kilgore Hall 214A
Bio
Websites
- https://potatoes.cals.ncsu.edu/
- https://sweetpotatogenomics.cals.ncsu.edu/
- https://plantbreeding.ncsu.edu/
Responsibilities
Dr. Yencho has research responsibilities (100%) in sweetpotato and potato breeding and genetics. Research emphasis is on developing disease and insect resistant table-stock, processing and specialty-type sweetpotatoes and potatoes adapted to North Carolina’s growing conditions with improved root and tuber quality, respectively.
Research interests include plant breeding, plant resistance to insects and pathogens, use of wild and/or related plant germplasm as a source of commercially important traits, applications of genomics, molecular biology and plant biochemistry to plant breeding and the production of renewable, bio-based, value-added products in sweetpotato and potato, and international agricultural development.
General Information
Education
PhD Entomology/Plant Breeding (Minor) Cornell University 1993
MS Entomology Washington State University 1985
BS Bioscience Pennsylvania State University 1982
Publications
- A reference-quality NLRome for the hexaploid sweetpotato and diploid wild relatives , (2025)
- Comprehensive review of sweetpotato flavor compounds: Opportunities for developing consumer-preferred varieties , COMPREHENSIVE REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND FOOD SAFETY (2025)
- Genome-wide associations of sweetpotato metabolites enhance genomic prediction and identify genes in metabolic and regulatory pathways , SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2025)
- Tester selection for combining ability estimation of storage root yield and sweetpotato virus disease in sweetpotato breeding , SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2025)
- A Comparison of Three Automated Root-Knot Nematode Egg Counting Approaches Using Machine Learning, Image Analysis, and a Hybrid Model , Plant Disease (2024)
- Acrylamide in Fried Sweetpotato: The Relationship with Free Asparagine and Effects of Asparaginase , ACS FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2024)
- Baked sweetpotato textures and sweetness: An investigation into relationships between physicochemical and cooked attributes , FOOD CHEMISTRY-X (2023)
- Discovery of a major QTL for resistance to the guava root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne enterolobii) in 'Tanzania', an African landrace sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) , THEORETICAL AND APPLIED GENETICS (2024)
- Discovery of a major QTL for resistance to the guava root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne enterolobii) in ‘Tanzania’, an African landrace sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) , (2024)
- Early root architectural traits and their relationship with yield in Ipomoea batatas L , PLANT AND SOIL (2024)