Dr. Lazslo G. Kovacs
Role: Faculty Emeritus
Campus: Springfield
Details
Education
- PhD, 1992, University of Missouri-Columbia
- BSc, University of Agricultural Sciences (Presently Szent István University), 1986
Teaching
- BIO 235: Principles of Genetics
- BIO 121: General Biology
Professional experience
Memberships in the following organizations
- Center for Grapevine Biotechnology
- Interdisciplinary Plant Group
- American Society of Plant Biologists
Research and professional interests
- Resistance to the powdery mildew pathogen in Vitis vinifera
- Compatible interaction between grapevine and powdery mildew
- The biosynthesis of polyphenolic compounds in grape berries
- Diseases of grapevines
Presently, the powdery mildew fungus (Erysiphe necator Schwein.) is controlled by the application of substantial amounts of fungicides. It is becoming increasingly clear that some of these chemicals can harm the environment, pose risk to human health, or become ineffective by the pathogen’s ability to develop fungicide resistance. Dependence on chemical disease control can be alleviated by the cultivation of grape varieties that are resistant to the pathogen. We are working toward this goal by studying the interaction between E. necator and Vitis vinifera in both a compatible and an incompatible interactions.