Ag Research

 

Kiran Mysore of the Oklahoma State University Institute for Agricultural Biosciences and the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology was recently awarded the 2022 Ruth Allen Award by The American Phytopathological Society.

 

​The award honors individuals who have made an outstanding, innovative research contribution that has changed or has the potential to change the direction of research in any field of plant pathology. Recipients receive a​n award ​and honorarium funding. 

 

“I was honored and thrilled because there is a lot of competition for this award,” said Mysore, a research professor in molecular biology.

 

During his postdoctoral work, Mysore focused on genes that cause disease resistance, creating strategies for transferring more durable disease resistance in crop plants. This work continued during his early tenure at the Noble Research Institute where he initiated a project to identify plant genes that play a role in nonhost disease resistance.

 

Mysore demonstrated new ways to initiate and evaluate studies on virus-induced gene silencing, including discovering a simple soil drenching procedure around the roots of plants that allows scientists to more easily obtain gene function analysis of plants. Most significantly, Mysore initiated a generation of a large mutant population in the legume species Medicago truncatula with an aim to understand plant gene function during plant development.

 

Mysore has co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications, many of which have been published in high impact journals, such as Science, Current Biology and Nature series. His research has also been published in elite core topic journals, such as Molecular Plant Pathology and Phytopathology. He currently holds eight patents in the areas of plant disease resistance and Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation. His research has been recognized through a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award and election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

 

As a leader in studies on nonhost disease resistance and technology development, Mysore has been an invited speaker to approximately 70 national and international conferences, universities and research institutions.

 

“Dr. Mysore is an incredibly productive and talented scientist who richly deserves this award. We are excited to have him as part of our research team,” said Randy Allen, director of the Institute for Agricultural Biosciences. “The integration of Dr. Mysore and his colleagues has significantly strengthened our research program at the IAB, which will help us fulfill our mission as an integral component of OSU Ag Research.”