Gwyn A. Beattie

Last updated
Gwyn A. Beattie
Alma mater
OccupationPhytopathologist  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Employer
Awards
  • Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society (2020)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Gwyn A. Beattie is the Robert Earle Buchanan Distinguished Professor of Bacteriology for Research and Nomenclature at Iowa State University, [1] working in the areas of plant pathology and microbiology. [2] [3] Beattie uses molecular and cellular perspectives to examine questions about the ecology of plant bacteria such as the ways in which plant leaves respond to environmental cues, and the genomics underlying microbial responses on and within plant leaves. [4] Her work on the microbiome and the positive influence of microbes has implications for plant health and productivity, with the potential to improve crop yields and counter food insecurity. [4] [5]

Contents

Beattie has chaired the American Phytopathological Society's Public Policy Board. [4] She helped to develop the term phytobiome and publish Phytobiomes: A Roadmap for Research and Translation (2016). [6] [3] She has served on the Board of Directors of the International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research. [6] Beattie has served as a Senior Editor for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions [1] and became a co-editor of the Annual Review of Phytopathology as of 2022. [7]

Early life and education

One of three daughters of Alan Gilbert Beattie and his wife Barbara (Stover) Beattie, [8] Gwyn Beattie grew up in New Mexico. [4] [8] Her father worked at Sandia National Laboratories. [8]

Gwyn Beattie received a B.A. in chemistry from Carleton College (1985). She earned a Ph.D. in, cellular and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1991), working with advisor Jo Handelsman on rhizobium nodulation competitiveness. [4]

Career

Beattie did post-doctoral research in microbial ecology at the University of California-Berkeley with Steven Lindow. In 1995, she joined the faculty at Iowa State University [4] where she is currently the Robert Earle Buchanan Distinguished Professor of Bacteriology for Research and Nomenclature. [1] In 2020, she served as Interim Chair of the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Iowa State. [9]

Beattie participated in the American Academy of Microbiology's colloquium How Microbes Can Help Feed the World, published as proceedings in 2012. [5] [10] As a leader of the Phytobiomes steering committee and the Phytobiomes Roadmap Writing Workshop held at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in 2015, she helped to develop the term phytobiome, and to publish Phytobiomes: A Roadmap for Research and Translation (2016). [6] [3] [11] [12]

Beattie has served two terms as the Chair of the American Phytopathological Society's Public Policy Board [4] [1] [2] beginning in 2014, [13] with her second term ending as of August 2020. [14] [15] She has served on the Board of Directors of the International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research (Phytobiomes Alliance), beginning with its formation in 2016. [6] [4]

Beattie is a strong advocate for increasing Congressional funding of scientific research in agriculture. She emphasizes the importance of developing plants that can better endure worsening growing conditions such as drought that are resulting from climate change. Such research is essential to combating food insecurity. [16] While broadly applicable, it is likely to be of particular important for the least developed countries. [5]

Beattie is on the editorial board of Applied and Environmental Microbiology and has served as a Senior Editor for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions . [1] In 2022, she became co-editor of the Annual Review of Phytopathology with John M. McDowell. [7]

Research

Beattie is internationally recognized for her work on the ecology of phytopathogenic bacteria and their use of environmental signaling. She has explored the ways in which plant leaves respond to environmental cues, and the genomics underlying microbial responses on and within plant leaves. Using the model organism Pseudomonas syringae , she has studied bacterial perception of leaf surfaces and interiors. [4] P. syringae bacteria can be carried long distances by air currents, and live on leafy plants in a wide variety of environments and conditions. [17]

As she studied bacterial gene expression in different environments, she discovered that bacteria, like plants, contained light-sensing proteins. [17] By examining the transcriptome of P. syringae, her team has determined that one-third of its genes are affected by light. Her work has identified light, and in particular far-red wavelengths, as potentially important environmental signals in plant-colonizing microbes. The discovery that bacteria have signaling pathways for different wavelengths of light has illuminated an unexpected parallel between bacteria and plants. [4]

Beattie's research group has also discovered physiological mechanisms regulating the availability of water, that involve both host and pathogen. Water availability is a limiting factor for microbial growth. Using biosensors that they developed to assess the water status of individual cells, Beattie's group has shown that bacteria can experience low water availability deep within a plant, and that plants can limit water availability as a defensive response against bacteria. [4] The researchers have identified microbiome signatures that are characteristic of drought-stressed plants and the root microbiomes of many plant species. [4]

In addition, light-sensitive proteins affect gene expression in ways that help bacteria to survive periods of low water availability. [17] Using P. syringae to examine the interactions of light with photosensory proteins, [4] Beattie's research group discovered that bacteria were not only responding to changes in evaporation of morning dew on the leaves, they were anticipating them. By sensing light cues, bacteria were able to activate self-protective changes before warming of the leaves and evaporation of moisture occurred. This experimental work is among the first to clearly demonstrate that bacteria have developed anticipatory strategies to improve their survival. [17]

Beattie's group has developed a model organism with genetic tractability (the potential for genetic manipulation using genetic engineering), for bacterial wilt which is caused by Erwinia tracheiphila in Cucurbitaceae (gourds). By understanding bacterial wilt etiology, the researchers hope to develop ecologically based biocontrol management strategies for crops in the Midwest and Northeast U.S. [4]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> Species of bacterium

Pseudomonas syringae is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacterium with polar flagella. As a plant pathogen, it can infect a wide range of species, and exists as over 50 different pathovars, all of which are available to researchers from international culture collections such as the NCPPB, ICMP, and others.

<i>Pseudomonas savastanoi</i> Species of bacterium

Pseudomonas savastanoi is a gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium that infects a variety of plants. It was once considered a pathovar of Pseudomonas syringae, but following DNA-relatedness studies, it was instated as a new species. It is named after Savastano, a worker who proved between 1887 and 1898 that olive knot are caused by bacteria.

Pseudomonas coronafaciens is a Gram-negative bacterium that is pathogenic to several plant species. Following ribotypical analysis several pathovars of P. syringae were incorporated into this species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Phytopathological Society</span> American scientific learned society

The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is an international scientific organization devoted to the study of plant diseases (phytopathology). APS promotes the advancement of modern concepts in the science of plant pathology and in plant health management in agricultural, urban and forest settings.

<i>Annual Review of Phytopathology</i> Academic journal

The Annual Review of Phytopathology is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes review articles about phytopathology, the study of diseases that affect plants. It was first published in 1963 as the result of a collaboration between the American Phytopathological Society and the nonprofit publisher Annual Reviews. As of 2024, Journal Citation Reports lists the journal's 2023 impact factor as 9.1, ranking it tenth of 265 journal titles in the category "Plant Sciences". As of 2023, it is being published as open access, under the Subscribe to Open model. Its current editors are John M. McDowell and Gwyn A. Beattie.

<i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> f.sp. <i>cubense</i> Fungus, causes banana wilt/Panama disease

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense is a fungal plant pathogen that causes Panama disease of banana, also known as Fusarium wilt. The fungi and the related disease are responsible for widespread pressure on banana growing regions, destroying the economic viability of several commercially important banana varieties.

George Henry Hepting was an American forest scientist and plant pathologist. Hepting was Chief Plant Pathologist at Southeastern Forest Experiment Station of US Forest Service and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has been called a "pioneer leader in forest pathology".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Henry Flor</span> American phytopathologist (1900–1991)

Harold Henry Flor known as H. H. Flor (1900–1991) was an American plant pathologist famous for proposing the gene for gene hypothesis of plant-pathogen genetic interaction whilst working on rust of flax.

A phytobiome consists of a plant (phyto) situated in its specific ecological area (biome), including its environment and the associated communities of organisms which inhabit it. These organisms include all macro- and micro-organisms living in, on, or around the plant including bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, insects, animals, and other plants. The environment includes the soil, air, and climate. Examples of ecological areas are fields, rangelands, forests. Knowledge of the interactions within a phytobiome can be used to create tools for agriculture, crop management, increased health, preservation, productivity, and sustainability of cropping and forest systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsune Kosuge</span> American plant pathologist and biochemist

Tsune Kosuge was an American plant pathologist and plant biochemist who researched plant–microbe interactions. He was particularly known for his work on bacterial-synthesized plant hormones in plant tumors. He was a professor in the department of plant pathology at the University of California, Davis, from 1971 until his death, serving as departmental chair (1974–80).

Jan Elnor Leach is an American plant pathologist. She is known for her research of the molecular biology of plant pathogens, particularly those affecting rice plants. She was the co-editor of the Annual Review of Phytopathology from 2015-2022 and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Steven Earl Lindow is an American plant pathologist. He has researched the application of transgenic bacteria to prevent frost damage in crops as well as using bacteria to prevent russeting of fruit. He is a member of several scientific societies, including the National Academy of Sciences, and has been co-editor of the Annual Review of Phytopathology from 2015-2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Charkowski</span> American plant pathologist

Amy Olymbia Charkowski is an American plant pathologist and Professor of Plant Pathology at Colorado State University. She was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2020.

Robert Harry Stover was a Canadian-Honduran phytopathologist specializing in Musa crops and their fungal diseases.

Andrew O. Jackson is an American plant virologist.

Xanthomonas pruni is a bacterial disease of almost all Prunus.

Florida is the largest producer of fresh-market tomatoes in the United States.

John M. McDowell is the J.B. Stroobants Professor of Biotechnology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His major area of research is phytopathology and plant-pathogen interactions. He has used gene-sequencing technology to examine the genome of Phytophthora capsici and to develop strains of soybean plants that are better able to defend against pathogens.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dr. Gwyn A Beattie". Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology, Iowa State University. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Gwyn Beattie". International Phytobiomes Alliance. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Broadfoot, Marla (1 August 2017). "Is This the Next Green Revolution?". Scientific American. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "2020 APS Fellow: Gwyn Beattie". American Phytopathological Society.
  5. 1 2 3 Mayer, Amy (1 November 2014). "Can Microbes Help Feed the World?". BioScience. 64 (11): 963–969. doi:10.1093/biosci/biu163 . Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "2016 One Hundred and Eighth Annual Report Of the American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting" (PDF). American Phytopathological Society. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  7. 1 2 McDowell, John; Beattie, Gwyn; Lindow, Steve; Leach, Jan (26 August 2022). "Appreciation for the Leadership of Leach and Lindow". Annual Review of Phytopathology. 60 (1): v. doi:10.1146/annurev-py-60-061722-100001. ISSN   0066-4286. PMID   36027940. S2CID   251866048.
  8. 1 2 3 "Alan Beattie Obituary (1934–2022) – Albuquerque, IA – Albuquerque Journal". Legacy.com. Aug 19, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Beattie Named Interim Chair of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Iowa State University". College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Iowa State University. January 28, 2020.
  10. ↑ Reid, Ann; Greene, Shannon E. (2012). How Microbes Can Help Feed the World: Report on an American Academy of Microbiology Colloquium Washington, DC // December 2012. American Academy of Microbiology Colloquia Reports. American Society for Microbiology. doi:10.1128/AAMCol.Dec.2012 (inactive 2024-09-24). PMID   32687282.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2024 (link)
  11. ↑ "Launch of the Roadmap for Phytobiomes Research". IS-MPMI. February 25, 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Phytobiomes: A Roadmap for Research and Translation (PDF). St. Paul: American Phytopathological Society. 2016.
  13. ↑ "Beattie (02-2015) – Plant Pathology and Microbiology". studylib.net.
  14. ↑ "1 Minutes -Abridged from the April 8–10, 2020 Virtual APS Council Meetings" (PDF). American Phytopathological Society. April 8, 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  15. ↑ Blanchard, Tobie (17 June 2020). "LSU College of Agriculture News for Spring 2020". LSU College of Agriculture. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Cronin, Dana (30 December 2022). "Amid a global food crisis, federal funding for agriculture research continues to decline". Harvest Public Media, Iowa Public Radio. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Researchers discover bacteria use light cues to anticipate, prepare for coming stress". College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. December 12, 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Faculty and staff receive university awards". Inside Iowa State. Iowa State University. May 3, 2018.
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