Fikret Isik

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.

Publications

• Genetic Parameter Estimates from a Polymix Breeding Population of Pinus taeda L. , Forest Science (2023)
• Performance Based on Measurements from Individual-Tree Progeny Tests Strongly Predicts Early Stand Yield in Loblolly Pine , FOREST SCIENCE (2023)
• 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)
• 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)
• Optimal mating of Pinus taeda L. under different scenarios using differential evolution algorithm , (2022)
• Pollination Bag Type Affects Ovule Development and Seed Yields in Pinus taeda L. , FOREST SCIENCE (2022)
• Prediction ability of genome-wide markers in Pinus taeda L. within and between population is affected by relatedness to the training population and trait genetic architecture , G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS (2022)
• Single-Step Genomic Analysis Increases the Accuracy of Within-Family Selection in a Clonally Replicated Population of Pinus taeda L. , FOREST SCIENCE (2022)
• A genome-wide SNP genotyping resource for tropical pine tree species , MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES (2021)
• Correction: Major QTL confer race-nonspecific resistance in the co-evolved Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme-Pinus taeda pathosystem , Heredity (2021)