{"id":319917,"date":"2014-12-01T11:14:27","date_gmt":"2014-12-01T17:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/?p=319917"},"modified":"2014-12-02T11:01:30","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T17:01:30","slug":"utt-professor-receives-national-award-for-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=319917","title":{"rendered":"UTT Professor Receives National Award for Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2014\/12\/Blake-Bextine2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2014\/12\/Blake-Bextine2-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Blake Bextine2\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-319929\" \/><\/a>TYLER \u2014 A professor of biology at The University of Texas at Tyler, Dr. Blake Bextine, has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for excellence in research, Dr. Ross Sherman, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, announced. According to a UTT news release, Bextine received the USDA\u2019s \u201c2014 Partnership Award\u201d for his outstanding contributions in helping manage Zebra Chip disease. The ailment is caused by a bacterium transmitted by the \u201cpotato psyllid\u201d (Bactericera cockerelli). \u201cZebra Chip\u201d creates a zig-zag appearance in the upper growth of an affected plant. Insects carrying specific species of the bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter, feed on the plant, which is then infected.  <!--more--> <\/p>\n<p>Through a large collaborative effort with the U.S., Mexico, and Central American countries, the research team \u2013 led by seven principal investigators including Bextine \u2013 is developing a management plan to regulate psyllid populations through technologically advanced DNA testing and sequencing. \u201cOver the past 15 years, the Zebra Chip problem has become increasingly worse,\u201d said Bextine, who has studied the disease for almost 10 years. \u201cThe goal of the Zebra Chip Program is to reduce the negative effects of this disease through understanding the system and applying management tactics in an informed way. Understanding the problem unveils its vulnerability.&#8221;  Bextine noted, \u201cThe pathogen that causes this disease also affects other crops, and the insect feeds on a lot of other plants, so this is not just a potato problem.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TYLER \u2014 A professor of biology at The University of Texas at Tyler, Dr. Blake Bextine, has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for excellence in research, Dr. Ross Sherman, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, announced. According to a UTT news release, Bextine received the USDA\u2019s \u201c2014 Partnership Award\u201d for &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=319917\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">UTT Professor Receives National Award for Research<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-13 11:42:52","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=319917"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320003,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319917\/revisions\/320003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=319917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=319917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=319917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}