Jonathan Walton

Department: Plant Biology

Funding for Research: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Basics of Research: Walton and more than 20 researchers around the world are working to sequence the genome of a fungal plant pathogen. This type of fungus has been infecting wheat crops across the country, more specifically in the Midwest.

“The fungus makes a number of toxins and these are bad because not only do they kill the wheat plant and allow the fungus to invade, but then when people eat that grain, the toxins also have bad effects on people and animals,” Walton said. “Also, if the farmer comes and tries to sell his wheat and they test it and find it’s contaminated with micro-toxins it will just destroy the whole crop.”

Walton said identifying the genes that are creating the fungus is a better means of controlling it.

They did this by putting the genomes through automated DNA sequencing machines which output the raw data the scientists then analyzed and annotated. The group is working to sequence all 14,000 genes that make up the fungal plant pathogen. Walton has done 300 himself, with each gene’s annotation taking about an hour of work.

“The hard part that require biologists and scientists, such as myself, is to make sense of all the sequencing, and that’s the big job that really will never end,” Walton said. “We will continue to discover new things in the genome that we never knew were there and correct errors and put the pieces together.”

Possibly related:

Turbine expert settles at MSU

Radiology professor flexes brain with muscle research

Career change brings policymaker to faculty

Assistant professor benefits from plant researcher's tutelage

Innovations: Professor studies educational technology

Innovations: Mushroom DNA studied to rid wheat crop of fungi

Walton

Biology professor Jonathan Walton began teaching at MSU 20 years ago, but his fascination with science didn’t start there.

“I got interested in biology when I was in high school,” Walton said. “I always liked the outdoors a lot, and I like animals and plants and bugs. When I got to college I took a lot of different classes, but none of them ever appealed to me as much as science did. Within science, it was really plant biology that inspired me the most.”

Walton graduated from the University of California-Santa Cruz before spending a couple of years at Cornell University and ultimately obtaining his doctoral degree from Stanford University. He can now be found spending endless hours in MSU’s Plant Research Laboratory. There he works one-on-one with undergraduate and graduate students as well as collaborating with other scientists and authors across the country conducting research studies.

“Just how plants function and the way they impact our lives is very appealing,” Walton said. “Everything from the beauty of gardens, for example, to spices to drugs that come from plants to the use of forests and crop plants. On so many different levels plants impact us, and I just find it really interesting.”

When he is not in the laboratory, Walton can be found enjoying nature in other ways by taking walks in the woods, traveling or sailing with his two sons. When it comes to literature, Walton’s interests are not bound to the thick biology books that scatter his office. He’s a big Harry Potter fan.

According to Walton, what many people don’t realize is that science is a “social occasion.”

“Honestly, the most fun part of all of this is interacting with your colleagues,” Walton said. “We spend a lot of time talking to each other. The greatest thrill in the world is when you find someone who shares your passion. There are a handful of people out there who are intensely interested in the same things I am, and when we get together we just have a great time.”

Published on Wednesday, September 12, 2007