Professor of Plant Pathology
Director, Western Plant Diagnostic Network
Office Phone: 530-752-0308
FAX: 530-752-5674
E-Mail: rmbostock@ucdavis.edu

Lab Website

Biography

B.S. Rhodes College 1974 Biology
Ph.D. University of Kentucky 1981 Plant Pathology

Area of Specialization

Biochemistry and molecular biology of plant-microbe interactions; diseases of orchard crops.

Research

General areas of emphasis in my research program are the biochemistry and molecular biology of plant-microbe interactions and diseases of orchard crops. Current projects focus on abiotic stress predisposition to diseases caused by Phytophthora species, using model (tomato and Arabidopsis) and non-model (nursery ornamentals) systems. We are interested in the interaction of phytohormones and other signals that compromise resistance or prime the plant for susceptibility. Our applied research investigates fungal diseases of stone fruit species (Prunus), with an emphasis on canker complexes, brown rot, and selected post-harvest diseases.

Selected Publications:

1. Bostock, RM. 2005. Signal crosstalk and induced resistance: straddling the line between cost and benefit. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 43:545-80

2. Stack J, Cardwell K, Hammerschmidt R, Byrne J, Loria R, Snover-Clift K, Baldwin W, Wisler G, Beck H, Bostock R, Thomas C, Luke E. 2006. The National Plant Diagnostic Network. Plant Disease 90:128-136.

3. Weyman PD, Pan Z, Feng Q, Gilchrist DG, and Bostock RM. 2006. A circadian rhythm-regulated tomato gene is induced by arachidonic acid and Phythophthora infestans infection. Plant Physiology 140:235-248.

4. Lee M-H and Bostock RM. 2006. Agrobacterium T-DNA-mediated integration and gene replacement in the brown rot pathogen Monilinia fructicola. Current Genetics 49:309-322.

5. Lee M-H and Bostock RM. 2006. Induction, regulation, and role in pathogenesis of appressoria in Monilinia fructicola. Phytopathology 96:1072-1080.

6. Weyman PD, Pan Z, Feng Q, Gilchrist DG, and Bostock RM. 2006. DEA1, a circadian- and cold-regulated tomato gene, protects yeast cells from freezing death. Plant Molecular Biology 62:547-559

7. Lee, M-H., and Bostock, R.M. 2007. Fruit exocarp phenols in relation to quiescence and development of Monilinia fructicola infections in Prunus: a role for cellular redox? Phytopathology 97:269-277.

8. Roubtsova, T. V., and Bostock, R. M. 2009. Episodic abiotic stress as a potential contributing factor to onset and severity of disease caused by Phytophthora ramorum in Rhododendron and Viburnum. Plant Disease 93:912-918.

9. DiLeo MV, Bostock RM, and Rizzo DM. 2009. Phytophthora ramorum does not cause physiologically significant systemic injury to California bay laurel, its primary reservoir host. Phytopathology 99:1307-1311.

10. Su SYW, Beck HW, Xiao X, DePree J, Degwekar S, Zhou C, Lee M, Thomas C, Coggeshall A, and Bostock R. 2010. ETKnet: A Distributed Network System for Sharing Event Data and Multi-faceted Knowledge in a Collaboration Federation. In Yang, C.C., M.C.-L Chau, J. -H Wang, and H. Chen (eds.) Security Informatics. VII, pp. 135-154.

11. Lee M-H, Chiu C-M, Roubtsova T, Chou C-M, and Bostock RM. 2010. Overexpression of a redox-regulated cutinase gene MfCUT1 increases virulence of the brown rot pathogen Monilinia fructicola on Prunus spp. Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions 23:176-186.

12. DiLeo MV, Pye MF, Roubtsova TV, Duniway JM, MacDonald JD, Rizzo DM, and Bostock RM. 2010. Abscisic acid in salt stress predisposition to Phytophthora root and crown rot in tomato and chrysanthemum. Phytopathology 100:871-879

13. Savchenko T, Walley JW, Chehab EW, Xiao Y, Kaspi R, Pye MF, Mohamed ME, Lazarus CM, Bostock RM, and Dehesh K. 2010. Arachidonic acid: an evolutionarily conserved signaling molecule modulates plant stress signaling networks. Plant Cell 22: 3193-3205

14. Inderbitzin P, Bostock RM, Trouillas FP, Michailides TJ. 2010. A six locus phylogeny reveals high species diversity in Botryosphaeriaceae from California almond. Mycologia 102(6):1350-68

15. Fletcher J., Luster D, Bostock R, Burans J, Cardwell K, Gottwald T, McDaniel L, Royer M, and Smith K. 2010. Emerging infectious plant diseases. In Scheld WM, Grayson ML, and Hughes JM (eds.). Emerging Infections 9, pp 337-366 ASM Press, Washington, DC

16. Bostock RM, Savchenko T, Lazarus CM, Dehesh K. 2011. Eicosapolyenoic acids: novel MAMPs with reciprocal effect on oomycete-plant defense signaling networks. Plant Signaling and Behavior 6:531-33

17. Inderbitzin P, Bostock RM, Davis RM, Usami T, Platt HW, Subbarao KV. 2011. Phylogenetics and taxonomy of the fungal vascular wilt pathogen Verticillium, with the descriptions of five new species. PLoS ONE 6(12): e28341. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0028341

18. Inderbitzin P, Davis RM, Bostock RM, Subbarao KV. 2011. The Ascomycete Verticillium longisporum is a hybrid and a plant pathogen with an expanded host range. PLoS ONE 6(3): e18260. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018260

19. Yaghmour, M. A., Bostock, R. M., Morgan, D. P., and Michailides, T. J. 2012. Biology and sources of inoculum of Geotrichum candidum causing sour rot of peach and nectarine fruit in California. Plant Dis. 96:204-210.

20. Yaghmour, M. A., Bostock, R. M., Adaskaveg, J. E., and Michailides, T. J. 2012. Propiconazole sensitivity in populations of Geotrichum candidum, the cause of sour rot of peach and nectarine, in California. Plant Dis. 96:752-758.