Jean Ristaino

Bio

Jean Beagle Ristaino earned her B.S. degree in Biological Sciences and M.S. degree in Plant Pathology from the University of Maryland, and her Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of California-Davis.  Upon graduation she joined the Department of Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University, advancing to full professor in 1998. She was named a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in February of 2012. Much of Dr. Ristaino’s work has been on the Oomycete pathogens in the genus Phytophthora. She works on the population genetics of historical potato famine epidemics and studies the population structure of present day late blight outbreaks.  Ristaino’s lab was the first to develop pioneering research techniques to recover DNA from 150-year-old historic herbarium specimens and determine that the strain that caused the potato famine was a Ia mt haplotype.  Her work documented an Andean origin for P. infestans and tracked it migration to the US and Ireland. She has also described new species of Phytophthora including P. andina the closest relative of P. infestans found in South America and she has developed taxonomic keys for identification.  Her research has been published in Nature, Science, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Her research uses molecular tools for addressing basic ecological questions concerning the spread of microorganisms in nature. She conducts Phytophthora diagnostics workshops in Latin America. Dr. Ristaino’s late blight research has been featured on CNN, Discovery Channel, radio (NPR, BBC, Voice of America) and in newspaper and magazine articles. Dr. Ristaino’s research has not only impacted the understanding and direction of plant pathology, but has also influenced how the general public and policy makers view science and scientists.  She serves as a Senior Science advisor and Jefferson Science Fellow at USAID Washington in the Bureau of Food Security.

Area(s) of Expertise

Oomycete diseases, Population Genetics, Epidemiology, Food Security

Publications

• Metagenomic study reveals hidden relationships among fungal diversity, variation of plant disease, and genetic distance in Cornus florida (Cornaceae) , FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE (2024)
• Reconstructing historic and modern potato late blight outbreaks using text analytics , SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2024)
• Abaxial leaf surface-mounted multimodal wearable sensor for continuous plant physiology monitoring , SCIENCE ADVANCES (2023)
• An open-access T-BAS phylogeny for emerging Phytophthora species , PLOS ONE (2023)
• Understanding the Genotypic and Phenotypic Structure and Impact of Climate on Phytophthora nicotianae Outbreaks on Potato and Tomato in the Eastern United States , PHYTOPATHOLOGY (2023)
• Gene Flow of Phytophthora infestans Between Refuse Piles, and Organic and Conventional Potato Fields in Southern Flevoland, The Netherlands , POTATO RESEARCH (2022)
• Microsatellite Markers from Peronospora tabacina, the Cause of Blue Mold of Tobacco, Reveal Species Origin, Population Structure, and High Gene Flow , PHYTOPATHOLOGY (2022)
• Global historic pandemics caused by the FAM-1 genotype of Phytophthora infestans on six continents , SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2021)
• Integrated microneedle-smartphone nucleic acid amplification platform for in-field diagnosis of plant diseases , BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS (2021)
• Population structure of Phytophthora infestans collected on potato and tomato in Italy , PLANT PATHOLOGY (2021)