Member Institutions:

• Bowling Green State U.
• Cleveland State U.
• Kent State U.
• Medical College of Ohio
• Miami U.
• The Ohio State U.
• Ohio U.
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Toledo
• Wright State U.
• Youngstown State U.

Sally Miller Associate Professor Department of Plant Pathology and Env. Graduate Studies Program The Ohio State University 227 Selby Hall 1680 Madison Avenue Wooster, Ohio 44691-4096 Phone (330) 263-3678 FAX (330) 263-3841 email miller.769@osu.edu	Back to Scientists

Research Interests

My research program is centered on the development of management strategies for vegetable diseases. The principle crops in the program are tomato, pepper and "salad vegetables" grown on muck soils in Ohio, including lettuce, radish, parsley and onion. The major diseases we are studying are caused by bacteria, phytoplasmas and soil-borne fungi. We have addressed several components of integrated pest management in this program, including the evaluation of varietal resistance, use of biological control microbes, alteration of cultural practices and limited use of appropriate pesticides. We are particularly interested in the application of biocontrol agents to vegetable-growing systems through the use of fortified composts. We are also involved in the use of serological and molecular techniques to detect and enumerate microorganisms in crops and soil. We have developed polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based systems for detection of biocontrol agents (Trichoderma hamatum) and plant pathogens (aster yellows phytoplasma, Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria) in agricultural ecosystems. We are also using other PCR-related methods to study taxonomic relationships among microorganisms.

Selected References

• Miller, S. A.; Madden, L.V. and Schmitthenner, A.F. 1997. Distribution of Phytophthora spp. in field soils determined by immunoassay. Phytopathology 87: 101-107.
• Scott, J.; Miller, S. A.; Jones, J.; Stall, R. and Francis, D. 1997. Resistance to Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria race T2 in Lycopersicon accessions. Hort Science In press.
• Sahin, F. and Miller, S. A. 1996. Characterization of Ohio strains of Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria, causal agent of bacterial spot of pepper. Plant Disease 80:773-778.
• Miller, S. A. 1996. Detecting propagules of plant pathogenic fungi. In: Advances in Botanical Research: Volume 23 Pathogen Indexing Technologies. S. H. DeBoer (ed), Academic Press, London, pp. 73-102.
• Murral, D. J.; Nault, L. R.; Hoy, C. W.; Madden, L. V. and Miller, S. A. 1996. Aster leafhopper transmission of aster yellows. J. Economic Entomology 89:1223-1232.
• Miller, S.A.; Bhat, R. G. and Schmitthenner, A. F. 1994. Detection of Phytophthora capsici in pepper and cucurbit crops in Ohio with two commercial immunoassay kits. Plant Disease 78: 1042-1046.

Ohio State Department of Plant Pathology
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