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ARS Home Southeast Area Charleston, South Carolina Vegetable Research People







William  Rutter    Plant Pathologist /ARSUserFiles/52717/WR.JPG
 William Rutter, Ph.D. Research Plant Pathologist- Nematology USDA-ARS U.S. Vegetable Laboratory 2700 Savannah Hwy. Charleston, SC 29414 Phone:843-402-5317
 Research Focus Our long-term goal is to elucidate the genetic control of disease and nematode resistance in economically important vegetable crops in the Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae families. Specifically, we will work on watermelon, cucumber, and pepper. Resistance to diseases and nematodes has been identified in some of these crops; however, gaining a better understanding of the genetics of resistance will aid commercial and public breeders in transferring these putative resistance genes into improved breeding lines and cultivars.  ProjectsNematode Early Warning System (NEWS) Facilitates Real-Time Remote Monitoring of Soil Pathogens in Agricultural FieldsCooperative Agreement (A)Accession Number:443638Characterization of Host Resistance and Biology of Diseases and Nematodes in Vegetable CropsIn-House Appropriated (D)Accession Number:441924CleanSEED: A Project To Ensure The Sustainability Of U.S. Sweetpotato Seed ProgramsReimbursable Cooperative Agreement (R)Accession Number:442221A Multi-state Effort to Contain and Manage the Invasive Guava Root Knot Nematode (GRKN) in Vegetable Crops.Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement (R)Accession Number:437518Development of Marketable Root-knot Nematode Resistant Sweetpotato Varieties: Translation of Genomics & Phenomics into On-farm Management SolutionsReimbursable Cooperative Agreement (R)Accession Number:441206Evaluating Watermelon Germplasm for Resistance to Reniform NematodeNon-Assistance Cooperative Agreement (S)Accession Number:445524
 Publications(Clicking on the reprint iconReprint Icon  will take you to the publication reprint.)Sustainable Sweetpotato Production in the United States: Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities-(Review Article) George, J., Reddy, G.V., Wadl, P.A., Rutter, W.B., Culbreath, J.R., Lau, P.W., Rashid, T., Allan, M.C., Johanningsmeier, S.D., Nelson, A.M., Wang, M.L., Gubba, A., Ling, K., Meng, Y., Collins, D.J., Ponniah, S.K., Gowda, P.H. 2024. Sustainable Sweetpotato Production in the United States: Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities. Agronomy Journal. 16,2/630-660. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21539.Enhancing reniform nematode management in sweet potato by complementing host-plant resistance with non-fumigant-(Peer Reviewed Journal)Impact of non-fumigant nematicides on reproduction and pathogenicity of Meloidogyne enterolobii and disease severity in tobacco-(Peer Reviewed Journal)A sustainable approach for weed and insect management in sweetpotato: breeding for weed and insect tolerant/resistant clones-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Wadl, P.A., Campbell, H.T., Rutter, W.B., Williams III, L.H., Murphey, V., Culbreath, J., Cutulle, M. 2023. A sustainable approach for weed and insect management in sweetpotato: breeding for weed and insect tolerant/resistant clones. Weed Technology. 37(1):60-66. https://doi.org/10.1017/wet.2022.99.Genetic diversity, population structure, and selection of core germplasm sets from the USDA sweetpotatoe (lpomomea batatas) collection-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Slonecki, T.J., Rutter, W.B., Olukolu, B., Yencho, G.C., Jackson, D.M., Wadl, P.A. 2023. Genetic diversity, population structure, and selection of core germplasm sets from the USDA sweetpotatoe (lpomomea batatas) collection. Horticulture Research. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1022555.Non-fumigant nematicides are promising alternatives to fumigants for the management of Meloidogyne enterolobii in tobacco-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Alam, S., Khanal, C., Rutter, W.B., Roberts, J. 2022. Non-fumigant nematicides are promising alternatives to fumigants for the management of Meloidogyne enterolobii in tobacco. Journal of Nematology. 54(1):3922. https://doi.org/10.2478/jofnem-2022-0045.Identification of sweetpotato germplasm resistant to pathotypically distinct isolates of meloidogyne enterolobii from the Carolinas-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Rutter, W., Wadl, P.A., Mueller, J.D., Agudelo, P. 2021. Identification of sweetpotato germplasm resistant to pathotypically distinct isolates of Meloidogyne enterolobii from the Carolinas. Plant Disease. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-02-20-0379-RECharacterization of resistance to major tropical root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) in solanum sisymbriifolium-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Hajihassani, A., Rutter, W.B., Schwarz, T., Woldemariam, M.W., Ali, E., Hamidi, N. 2020. Characterization of resistance to major tropical root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) in solanum sisymbriifolium. Phytopathology. 110:666-673. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-10-19-0393-R.Identification of Meloidogyne enterolobii infecting root-knot nematode resistant sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) in South Carolina-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Rutter, W.B., Skantar, A.M., Handoo, Z.A., Mueller, J., Aultman, S.P., Agudelo, P. 2019. Identification of Meloidogyne enterolobii infecting root-knot nematode resistant sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) in South Carolina. Plant Disease. 103(4):11. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-08-18-1388-PDN.Cucurbit rootstocks resistant to fusarium oxysporumf.sp. niveum remain resistant when co-infected by Meloidogyne incognita in the field-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Keinath, A.P., Wechter, W.P., Rutter, W.B., Agudelo, P.A. 2019. Cucurbit rootstocks resistant to fusarium oxysporumf.sp. niveum remain resistant when co-infected by Meloidogyne incognita in the field. Plant Disease. 103(6):1383-1390. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-18-1869-RE.Retargeting of a plant defense protease by a cyst nematode effector-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Pogorelko, G., Juvale, P., Rutter, W.B., Hutten, M., Maier, T., Hewezi, T., Paulus, J., Van Der Hoorn, R., Grundler, F., Siddique, S., Lionetti, V., Zabotina, O., Baum, T. 2019. Retargeting of a plant defense protease by a cyst nematode effector. Plant Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.14295.Resistant pepper carrying N, Me1, and Me3 have different effects on penetration and reproduction of four major meloidogyne species-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Hajihassani, A., Rutter, W.B., Luo, X. 2019. Resistant pepper carrying N, Me1, and Me3 have different effects on penetration and reproduction of four major meloidogyne species. Journal of Nematology. 51:1-9. https://doi.org/359780.PA-593: A root-knot nematode resistant sweet cherry-type pepper-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Rutter, W.B., Kousik, C.S., Thies, J.A., Farnham, M.W., Fery, R.L. 2018. PA-593: A root-knot nematode resistant sweet cherry-type pepper. Horticultural Science. 53(12):1922-1923. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13544-18.Variation in the AvrSr35 effector determines Sr35 resistance against wheat stem rust race Ug99-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Rutter, W.B., Salcedo, A., Akhunova, A., Wang, S., Bolus, S., Chao, S., Rouse, M.N., Szabo, L.J., Bowden, R.L., Akhunov, E., Dubcovsky, J. 2017. Variation in the AvrSr35 effector determines Sr35 resistance against wheat stem rust race Ug99. Science. 358(6370):1604-1606. https://doi:10.1126/science.aao7294.Divergent and convergent modes of interaction between wheat and Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici isolates revealed by the comparative gene co-expression network and genome analyses-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Rutter, W.B., Salcedo, A., Akhunova, A., Wang, S., Hanquan, L., Bowden, R.L., Akhunova, E. 2017. Divergent and convergent modes of interaction between wheat and Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici isolates revealed by the comparative gene co-expression network and genome analyses. Biomed Central (BMC) Genomics. 18:291. doi:10.1186/s12864-017-3678-6.Development of a sweet cherry pepper line with resistance to the southern root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita-(Abstract Only)
 
 Lab Members
 /ARSUserFiles/52717/BW.JPG
 Benjamin Waldo Postdoctoral Researcher benjamin.waldo@usda.gov Benjamin’s research is to help find genetic sources of resistance in vegetables to the guava root-knot nematode (*Meloidogyne enterlobii*).
 /ARSUserFiles/52717/JC.JPG
 Julianna Culbreath M.Sc. Student jculbre@g.clemson.edu Julianna’s research focuses on finding an effective and reliable survey method to detect *Meloidogyne enterlobii*in sweet potato storage roots. She is also studying the susceptibility of Irish potato to various *M. enterlobii*isolates.
 /ARSUserFiles/52717/JM.jpg
 Jennifer MacMillan Biological Science Technician jennifer.macmillan@usda.gov Jennifer is responsible for technical duties in the laboratory, field, and greenhouses; as well as data collection, purchasing, and other administrative work.
 Data William-Rutter-USDA-ARS · GitHub
 Protocols
 Other Projects *M. enterolobii* CAPs Project:FINDMe (findmenematode.org)


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