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Timothy Gottwald
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Research Leader and Plant Pathologist

The Gottwald lab team.

U. S. Horticultural Research Laboratory
2001 South Rock Road
Fort Pierce, FL 34945
Telephone: (561) 462-5883
Fax: (561) 462-5986
Email:
Tim.Gottwald@ars.usda.gov

The Gottwald lab team from left to right: Jolene Taylor, Earl Taylor, Tim Gottwald, Tim Riley, and Mary Peck.

 

Current Research Projects

Research is conducted on citrus epidemiology/pathology to provide fundamental knowledge on epidemiology, etiology, and host-parasite interactions of exotic and domestic bacterial, viral, and fungal foliar and fruit pathogens of citrus. The long-range goal is the development of innovative disease control strategies based on sound biological and epidemiological evaluation of disease pathosystems. International cooperative research programs have been established in Argentina, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Scotland, France, (Europe plus islands of Corsica and Reunion), Spain, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad to study the epidemiology, spread and develop control strategies for Asiatic citrus canker, citrus bacterial spot, citrus huanglongbing (greening), citrus tristeza (CTV), citrus variegated chlorosis, and plum pox virus (sharka) of Prunus sp.

The two diseases with continuous research effort are citrus canker and CTV. For citrus canker, the focus is on the etiology and epidemiology of the disease in grove and dooryard situations, the interaction of local and regional weather variables with pathogen spread and disease development, survival of citrus canker bacteria on various material surfaces and under various environmental conditions and the development of improved decontamination/disease control. For CTV the present focus is on the affect of aphid vector population composition on spread and the development of sampling strategies for citrus pathogens. Research efforts at present are highly supportive of and cooperative with USDA, APHIS, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, and the Central California Tristeza Eradication Agency as regulatory agencies in charge of eradication/suppression of CTV, Citrus Canker, and Plum Pox.

A collage of citrus canker symptoms.
Citrus Canker Symptoms

Selected Publications