John Stommel

Research Plant Geneticist

Dr. Stommel specializes in the use of classical and molecular genetics to develop tomatoes with improved quality for fresh market consumption and processing applications. He works with genes to improve tomato fruit color, sugar content, nutritive value and disease resistance. When genes for desirable traits cannot be found in the cultivated form of tomato, he identifies them in wild relatives of the tomato, characterizes their mode of inheritance, and transfers these genes to tomato. Additional projects are devoted to the genetic enhancement of pepper and eggplant. This research will provide information on the genetic control of economically important traits in these crops and result in the development of new cultivars with improved fruit quality and disease resistance.

Learn more about tomatoes.


Improving tomato varieties, picture courtesy of ARS Image Gallery.	Miniature bell peppers, picuture courtesy of ARS Image Gallery.
*Research Project* Project Number: 1275-21000-142-00 Genetic Enhancement Of Fruit Quality Constituents And Disease Resistance In Solanaceous Fruit Crops.	Email stommelj@ba.ars.usda.gov Other information Education Post-Graduate Employment Professional Societies Advisory Appointments Honors and Awards Publications

Education
Ph.D., Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 1989.
M.S., Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 1985.
B.S., Biology (Botany Emphasis), University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, WI, 1982.

Post-Graduate Employment
1989-Present , Research Plant Geneticist, Vegetable Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD.

Professional Societies

American Society for Horticultural Science
Tomato Genetics Cooperative
Vegetable Breeding Working Group, Genetics and Germplasm Working Group, American Society for Horticultural Science

Advisory Appointments

Chairman, USDA Tomato Crop Germplasm Committee. Member, 1992-present.
USDA-ARS, Acting National Program Leader, Horticulture and Sugar Crops. National Program Staff. May, 1999 - July, 2000.
Research Program Review Panel member for the USDA-ARS, U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, and the Clemson University Coastal Research and Education Center, Charleston, South Carolina, March, 1998.
Host: 2004 Tomato Breeders Roundtable.

BARD competitive grant proposals, Category - Field and Garden Crops: Review Panel chairman, 1997; Panel member, 1995, 1996; ad hoc reviewer, 1991, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2001.

U.S.A.I.D. Grants Program review panel member: Plant pathology panel. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002; Tissue culture panel. 1990, 1992

Honors and Awards

Trust Fund with Campbell Soup Co. to promote ongoing research in tomato to improve fruit carotenoid content and disease resistance.

USDA-ARS Germplasm Evaluation Grant. Evaluation of Eggplant germplasm for fruit phytonutrient content.

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Pan America Seed Co., Inc. to develop dual purpose culinary/ornamental pepper germplasm.

Trust Fund with H.J. Heinz Co. to conduct cooperative research on tomato quality and disease resistance, including the projects carotenoid and anthracnose-related research.

Awarded funding by Headquarters for Class of 1997 Postdoctoral Research Associate. Project title: Identification of molecular markers linked to genes regulating carotenoid content in tomato.

USDA Pilot Test Grants Program: Pilot Test of Satellite-Transgenic Tomato Resistance Against Cucumber Mosaic Virus: A Novel Biocontrol Approach.

Sigma Xi.

Publications

1999-present

More information on these journal articles can be found using AGRICOLA at the National Agriculture Library web site. Many abstracts of the articles are online.

Farnham, M., Simon, P.W., and Stommel, J.R. 1999. Improved phytonutrient content through plant genetic improvement. Nutrition Reviews 57:S19-S26.

Zhang, Y. and Stommel, J.R. 2000. RAPD and AFLP tagging and mapping of Beta and Beta-modifier, two genes which influence beta-carotene accumulation in fruit of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Theor. Appl. Genet. 100: 368-375.

Ronning, C.M., Kowalski, S.P., Sanford, L.L., and Stommel, J.R. 2000. Geographical variation of solanidane aglycone glycoalkaloids in the wild potato species Solanum chacoense Bitter. Genet. Resources and Crop Evol. 47:359-369.

Stommel, J.R. 2000. Tomato anthracnose resistance: Inheritance and QTLs. 1999 Tomato Breeders Roundtable Proceedings. Session 5, Fungal Pathogens: Breeding for Resistance.

Stommel, J.R. 2001. Selection influences heritability estimates and variance components for anthracnose resistance in populations derived from an intraspecific cross of tomato. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 126: 468-473.

Stommel, J.R. and Zhang, Y. 2001. Inheritance and QTL analysis of anthracnose resistance in the cultivated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). In: Proceedings of the 7th International Symp. On the Processing Tomato. T.K. Hartz, editor. Acta Hort., Vol. 542: 303-310.

Zhang, Y. and Stommel, J.R. 2001. Development of SCAR and CAPS markers linked to the Beta gene in tomato. Crop Science 41: 1602-1608.

Stommel, J.R. and Kobayashi, R.S. 2001. Barriers for introgression of Solanum ochranthum into tomato via somatic hybrids. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 125: 587-592.

Stommel, J.R. 2001. USDA 97L63, 97L66, and 97L97: Tomato breeding lines with high fruit beta-carotene content. HortScience 36: 387-388.

Stommel, J.R., Kobayashi, R.S., and Sinden, S.L. 2001. Somatic Hybridization Between Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. (Tomato) and Solanum ochranthum Dun. In: Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry. Vol. 49. Somatic Hybridization in Crop Improvement II. Nagata / Bajaj editors. Springer-Verlag..

Stommel, J.R. 2001. Tomato production: New opportunities through genetic resources. Proceedings NATO/CCMS Workshop 2000: Challenges of Modern Society, New Agricultural Technologies. Report No. 247, CCMS Blue Book Series, NATO-CCMS, Scientific Affairs Division, Brussels, Belgium.

Stommel, J.R. and Bosland, P.W. 2003. Pepper, Ornamental, Capsicum annuum. Flower Breeding and Genetics: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century. Kluwer Academic Publishers (In press).

Whitaker, B.D. and Stommel, J.R. 2003. Distribution of hydroxycinnamic acid conjugates in fruit of commercial eggplant. J. Agric. Food Chem. (Accepted for publication 4-1-03).

Stommel, J.R. and Whitaker, B.D. 2003. Phenolic acid content and composition of eggplant fruit in a germplasm core subset. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. (Accepted for publication 5-1-03).

Release of ‘Tangerine Dream’. 2003. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Washington, DC, (Germplasm/Variety Release Notice).

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