Elizabeth (betsy) Pierson
Department of Horticultural Sciences
Professor
Texas A and M University
United States of America
Biography
Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Pierson received an Honors B.S. degree in Biology from Indiana University and a Ph.D. degree in Botany from Washington State University. After post-doctoral work with the US Department of Agriculture, she joined the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Arizona as a Research Assistant Professor in 1990 and became a Research Associate Professor in 1996. Dr. Pierson joined the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University as an Associate Professor in 2009. Dr. Pierson is a member of the graduate faculty of Texas A&M University. She also is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology and a member of the intercollegiate faculty of Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences (MEPS).
Research Interest
Dr. Pierson’s areas of research include plant-microbe interactions, biological control, and sustainable agriculture. She also conducts research related to zebra chip disease of potato, microbe-insect interactions, and terrestrial plant ecology. She teaches the undergraduate course Garden Science and the graduate course Plant-associated Microorganisms, which is available to students in three different graduate programs. Dr. Pierson is active in graduate education, currently serving as a member of the Horticultural Sciences Graduate Program Committee and the MEPS admissions committee and as the advisor for the Horticulture Graduate Council. She also serves as a chair or member of graduate research committees and provides undergraduate laboratory research experience.
Publications
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Wang D, JM YuG, LS Pierson III, and EA Pierson. 2012. Differential regulation of phenazine biosynthesis by RpeA and RpeB in Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84. Microbiol. 158(7): 1745-1757.
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Loper, JE, KA Hassan, D Mavrodi, EW Davis II, CK Lim, BT Shaffer, LDH Elbourne, VO Stockwell, SL Hartney, K Breakwell, MD Henkels, SG Tetu, LI Rangel, TA Kidarsa, NL Wilson, J van Mortel, C Song, R Blumhagen, D Radune, JB Hostetler, LM Brinkac, AS Durkin, DA. Kluepfel, WP Wechter, AJ Anderson, YC Kim, LS Pierson III, EA Pierson, SE Lindow, JM Raaijmakers, DM Weller, LS Thomashow, AE Allen, and IT Paulsen. 2012. Comparative genomics of plant-associated Pseudomonas spp.: Insights into diversity and inheritance of traits involved in multi-trophic interactions. PLoS Genetics. PLoS Genet 8(7): e1002784. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1002784
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Ravindran A, J Levy, E Pierson, and D Gross. 2012. Development of LAMP as a sensitive and rapid method for detection of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum,’ in potatoes and psyllids. Phytopathol. 102(9):899-907
