Pacific Southwest Research Station

Education

B.A., Philosophy, 1956, University of Virginia
B.S., Forest Management, 1962, North Carolina State University
M.S., Forest Management/Plant Pathology, 1965, North Carolina State University
Ph.D., Genetics (minor, Plant Pathology), 1968, North Carolina State University

Research Interests/Duties

Understanding genetic interactions between tree hosts and fungal pathogens Current focus is on the white pine/blister rust pathosystem in western North America. We are attempting to identify specific genes for resistance in different white pine hosts, and virulence genes in the pathogen, and to determine the geographic distribution and frequency of these genes. Some mechanisms of partial resistance are genetically complex, and we have designed and implemented appropriate mating plans, such as partial diallels, to estimate heritabilities of these traits. In collaboration with molecular geneticists, we select parent trees with partial resistance mechanisms for matings that will employ QTL analysis to estimate the number of loci involved. We are also involved with molecular geneticists in mapping and cloning specific resistance genes in sugar and western white pines, by selecting the appropriate crosses and phenotyping the progeny after inoculation. We assess relative heterogeneity or homogeneity in pathogen populations by analyzing their overall genetic structures and mating systems with neutral molecular markers. Using all relevant information from the above approaches, we evaluate alternative gene deployment strategies to effect durable resistance, and the genetic consequences of the blister rust epidemic on biodiversity in host populations.

Selected Publications

• Kinloch, B. B., Jr. and Dupper, G. E. 2002. Genetic specificity in the white pine-blister rust pathosystem. Phytopathology 92 [3]:278-280.
• Kinloch, B. B., Jr. and Dupper, G. E. 1999. Evidence of cytoplasmic inheritance of virulence in Cronartium ribicola to major gene resistance in sugar pine. Phytopathology 89 :192-196.
• Kinloch, B. B., Jr., Sniezko, R. A., Barnes, G. D., and Greathouse, T. E. 1999. A major gene for resistance to white pine blister rust in western white pine from the Western Cascade Range. Phytopathology 89 [10]:861-867.