Fikret Isik
Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources
Professor and University Faculty Scholar
Co-Director of the NCSU Cooperative Tree Improvement Program
1019 Biltmore Hall
Bio
Fikret Isik’s research is focused on understanding the genetic basis of fusiform rust disease resistance in loblolly pine and uses molecular approaches, such as genomic selection to change forest tree breeding fundamentally. With funding from NSF/USDA-NIFA Plant-Biotic Interactions Program (Award #: (2022-04779) he will study the population genetics of fusiform rust fungus and identify putative effector loci in the genome. It would significantly contribute to our knowledge about how qualitative gene-for-gene interactions can operate in genetically variable pine-rust pathosystems. He will generate the most contiguous reference pangenome of the pathogen, published using long-read PacBio sequencing of four haploid fungal isolates. It will provide a whole-genome, linear sequence space to perform sliding-window scans for selective sweeps.
Education
Ph.D. Akdeniz University 1998
M.S. Istanbul University 1986
B.S. Istanbul University 1982
Publications
- Optimal Mating of Pinus taeda L. Under Different Scenarios Using Differential Evolution Algorithm , Forest Science (2024)
- Stem defect rates and ice storm damage for families of Pinus taeda from Coastal and Piedmont provenances planted on a North Carolina Piedmont site , (2024)
- Genetic Parameter Estimates from a Polymix Breeding Population of Pinus taeda L. , Forest Science (2023)
- Low-density AgriSeq targeted genotyping-by-sequencing markers are efficient for pedigree quality control in Pinus taeda L. breeding , TREE GENETICS & GENOMES (2023)
- Performance Based on Measurements from Individual-Tree Progeny Tests Strongly Predicts Early Stand Yield in Loblolly Pine , FOREST SCIENCE (2023)
- AgMate: An Optimal Mating Software for Monoecious Species. A LongTerm Breeding Example for Pinus taeda L. , agriRxiv (2022)
- Current status and trends in forest genomics , Forestry Research (2022)
- Genetic linkage between the training and selection sets impacts the predictive ability of SNP markers in a cloned population of Pinus taeda L. , TREE GENETICS & GENOMES (2022)
- Genomic Prediction of Complex Traits in Perennial Plants: A Case for Forest Trees , Methods in Molecular Biology (2022)
- Long-term evaluation of intra- and inter-provenance hybrids of loblolly pine in the Piedmont region of the southeastern United States , FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (2022)