Judith Brown

Regents Professor - School of Plant Sciences, BIO-5 Faculty, Department of Entomology-Joint, UA Plant Virus Diagnostics Laboratory, Director
jbrown@ag.arizona.edu, Forbes Bld 431
520-621-1402 / 520-621-1230 (Lab)

Educational Background

  • Ph.D. 1984 The University of Arizona, Plant Pathology (Virology/Vector Biology)
  • M.S. 1981 Washington State University, Plant Pathology (Virology/Vector Biology)
  • B.S. 1979 Texas A & M University, Horticulture; Minor:Plant Pathology

Research Interests

  • •Emerging plant DNA virus-vector complexes - biology, -omics discovery, phylodynamics & the agricultural-wild host plants interface
  • •Phylogeography, gene flow, and evolution of the Bemisia tabaci cryptic species group
  • •Biology and functional genomics of begomovirus-whitefly transmission specificity
  • •Determinants/effectors of psyllid vector-Ca. Liberibacter invasion and propagative transmission; dsRNA biopesticides
  • •Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus-Chlorella spp. pathogenicity determinants and virus-like elements
  • •Plant viral partners in the phyomicrobiome & beneficial viruses
  • •High-throughput sequencing for 'discovery' and molecular diagnostic tool development with applications to lab and field

Selected Publications

Book: Vector-Plant Pathogen Interactions. 2016. Brown, J.K. (Ed.) American Phytopathological Society Press, St Paul MN. 496 pp.
Book Chapters: Brown, J.K., Cicero, J.M., and Fisher, T.J. 2016. Psyllid-transmitted Candidatus Liberibacter species infecting citrus and solanaceous hosts. Pages 399-422 in: Vector-Mediated Transmission of Plant Pathogens, (ed.) Brown, J.K. American Phytopathological Society Press, St. Paul, MN. 496 pp.
Cicero, J.M., and Brown, J.K. 2016. Bemisia tabaci-mediated transmission of begomoviruses: History and anatomical, biological, and cellular interactions. Pages 211-230 in: Vector-Mediated Transmission of Plant Pathogens, (ed.). Brown, J.K. American Phytopathological Society Press, St. Paul, MN. 496 pp.
Brown, J.K. 2010. Bemisia: Phylogenetic biology of the Bemisia tabaci sibling species group. Pages 31-67 in: Bemisia: Bionomics and Management of a Global Pest. Stansly, P.A. and S. E. Naranjo (eds.), Springer, Netherlands. 350pp.
Gill, R. and Brown, J.K. 2010. Systematics of Bemisia and Bemisia relatives: Can molecular techniques solve the Bemisia tabaci complex conundrum--a Taxonomist’s viewpoint. Pages 5-29 in: Bemisia: Bionomics and Management of a Global Pest. Stansly, P.A. and S. E. Naranjo (eds.), Springer, Netherlands. 350pp.
Hadjistylli, M., Brown, J.K., and Roderick, G.K. 2010. Tools and recent progress in studying gene flow and population genetics of the Bemisia tabaci sibling species group. Pages 69-103 in: Bemisia: Bionomics and Management of a Global Pest. Stansly, P.A. and S. E. Naranjo (eds.), Springer, Netherlands. 350pp.
Reviews: Marelli, J.-P., Guest, D.I., Bailey, B.A., Evans, H.C., Brown, J.K. Juanid, M., Barreto, R.W., Lisboa, D.O., and Puig, A.S. 2019. Chocolate under threat from old and new cacao diseases. Phytopathology 109:1331-1343 https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/PHYTO-12-18-0477-RVW.
Lammers, P., Huesemann, M., Boeing, W., Anderson, D.B., Arnold, R.G., Bai, X., Bohle, M., Brown, L., Brown, J.K., Downes, M.C., Ge, Y., Holladay, J.E., Khopkar, A., Laur, P., Marrone, B.L., Mott, J.B., Nirmalakhandan, K., Ogden, K., Parsons, R., Polle, J., Ryan, R.D., Sayre, R.T., Seger, M., Selvaratnam, T., Thomasson, A., and Olivares, J.A. 2016. Review of the cultivation program within the national alliance for advanced biofuels and bioproducts. Algal Res. DOI10.1016/j.algal.2016.11.021.
Leke, W., Mignouna, D.B., Brown, J.K., and Kvarnheden, A. 2015. Begomovirus disease complex: Emerging virus diseases treat in vegetable production systems of West and Central Africa -A review. Agric. & Food Security 4:1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40066-014-0020-2.
Crosslin, J.M., Munyaneza, J.E., Brown, J.K., and Liefting, L.W. 2010. A history in the making: potato zebra chip disease associated with a new psyllid-borne bacterium – a tale of striped potatoes. APSNet January Feature: http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/zebra/.
Brown, J.K. 2007. The Bemisia tabaci complex: genetic and phenotypic variability drives begomovirus spread and virus diversification. Online. APSnet Features. doi: 10.1094/APSnetFeature-2007-0107/. http://www.apsnet.org/publications/apsnetfeatures/Pages/BemisiatabaciComplex.aspx
Brown, J. K., Frohlich, D., and Rosell, R.C. 1995. The sweet potato/silverleaf whiteflies: biotypes of Bemisia tabaci (Genn.), or a species complex? Ann. Rev. Entomology 40: 511-534.
Brown, J.K. 1992. Virus diseases of cotton. Pages 275-330 in: Cotton Diseases. R. J. Hillocks, ed. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International, Oxon, United Kingdom. 415 pp.
Brown, J.K. and Bird, J. 1992. Whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses in the Americas and the Caribbean Basin: past and present. Plant Dis. 76:220-225.
Selected Refereed Publications (Chronological):
Brown, J.K. and Nelson, M.R. 1984. Geminate particles associated with cotton leaf crumple disease in Arizona. Phytopathology 74:987-990.
Brown, J.K and Nelson, M.R. 1988. Transmission, host range, and virus-vector relationships of chino del tomate virus (CdTV), a whitefly-transmitted geminivirus from Sinaloa. Plant Dis. 72:866-869.
Brown, J.K. and Nelson, M.R. 1989. Characterization of watermelon curly mottle virus, a geminivirus distinct from squash leaf curl virus. Ann. Appl. Biol. 115:243-252.
Costa, H.S., and Brown, J.K. 1991. Variation in biological characteristics and in esterase patterns among populations of Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) and the association of one population with silverleaf symptom induction. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 61:211-219.
Swanson, M.M., Brown, J.K., Poulos, B.T., and Harrison, B.D. 1992. Genome affinities and epitope profiles of whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses from the Americas. Ann. appl. Biol. 121:285-296.
Costa, H.S., Brown, J.K., Sivasupramaniam, S., and Bird, J. 1993. Regional distribution, insecticide resistance, and reciprocal crosses between the `A' and `B' biotypes of Bemisia tabaci. Insect Sci. Applic. 14:127-138.
Bedford, I.D., Briddon, R.W., Brown, J.K., Rosell, R.C., and Markham, P.G. 1994. Geminivirus transmission and biological characterization of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotypes from different geographic regions. Ann. Appl. Biol. 125:311-325.
Coats, S.A., Brown, J.K., and Hendrix, D.L. 1994. Biochemical characterization of biotype-specific esterases in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci Genn. (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 24: 723-728.
Brown, J.K., Coats, S., Bedford, I.D., Markham, P.G., Bird, J., and Frohlich, D.R. 1995. Characterization and distribution of esterase electromorphs in the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Biochem. Genet. 33: 205-214.
Costa, H.S., Wescot, D.M., Ullman, D.E., Rosell, R., J.K Brown, and Johnson, M.W. 1995. Morphological variation in Bemisa endosymbionts. Protoplasma 189: 194-202.
Rosell, R., Lichty, J.E., and Brown, J.K. 1995. Ultrastructure of the mouthparts of adult sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Int. J. of Insect Morphol. & Embryol. 24: 297-306.
Costa, H.S., Wescot, D.M., Ullman, D.E., Rosell, R.C., Brown, J.K., and Johnson, M.W. 1996. Virus-like particles in the mycetocytes of the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). J. Invert. Pathol. 67: 183-186.
Wyatt, S.D., and Brown, J.K. 1996. Detection of subgroup III geminivirus isolates in leaf extracts by degenerate primers and polymerase chain reaction. Phytopathology 86: 1288-1293.
Rosell, R.C., Bedford, I.D., Frohlich, D.R., Gill, R.J., Markham, P.G., and Brown, J.K. 1997. Analyses of morphological variation in distinct populations of Bemisia tabaci. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 90: 575-589.
Idris, A.M., and Brown, J.K. 1998. Sinaloa tomato leaf curl geminivirus: biological and molecular evidence for a new subgroup III virus. Phytopathology 88: 648-657.
Brown, J.K., Ostrow, K.M., Idris, A.M., and Stenger, D.C. 1999. Biotic, molecular, and phylogenetic characterization of Bean calico mosaic virus, a distinct begomovirus species with affiliation in the squash leaf curl virus cluster. Phytopathology 89:273-280.
Frohlich, D., Torres-Jerez, I., Bedford, I.D., Markham, P.G., and Brown, J.K. 1999. A phylogeographic analysis of the Bemisia tabaci species complex based on mitochondrial DNA markers. Mol. Ecol. 8:1593-1602.
Rosell, R.C., Torres-Jerez, I., and Brown, J.K. 1999. Temporal pathway of geminivirus in whitefly extracts, saliva, hemolymph and honeydew. Phytopathology 89:239-246.
Brown, J.K., Ostrow, K.M., Idris, A.M., Stenger, D.C. 2000. Chino del tomate virus: relationships to other begomoviruses and the identification of A component variants that affect symptom expression. Phytopathology 90: 546-552.
Brown, J.K., Perring, T.M., Cooper, A.D., Bedford, I.D., and Markham, P.G. 2000. Genetic analysis of Bemisia (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) populations by isoelectric focusing electrophoresis. Biochem. Genet. 38:13-25.
Brown, J.K., Idris, A.M., Torres-Jerez, I., Banks, G.K., and Wyatt, S.D. 2001. The core region of the coat protein gene is highly useful for establishing the provisional identification and classification of begomoviruses. Arch. Virol. 146:1-18.
Ghanim, M., Rosell, R.C., Campbell, L.R., Czosnek, H., Brown, J.K., and Ullman, D.E. 2001. Microscopic analysis of the digestive, salivary and reproductive organs of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) biotype B. J. Morphol. 248:22-40.
Idris, A.M., Smith, S.E., and Brown, J.K. 2001. Ingestion, transmission, and persistence of Chino del tomate virus (CdTV), a New World begomovirus, by Old and New World biotypes of the whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci. Ann. Appl. Biol. 139: 145-154.
Brown, J.K., Idris, A.M., Alteri, C., and Stenger, D.C. 2002. Cucurbit leaf curl virus, a new emergent begomovirus species able to form viable reassortants with related viruses in the Squash leaf curl virus cluster. Phytopathology 92:734-742.
Idris, A.M., and Brown, J.K. 2002. Molecular analysis of Cotton leaf curl virus-Sudan reveals an evolutionary history of recombination. Virus Genes 24:249-256.
Idris, A.M. Hussein, M.H., Abdel-Salam, A.M., and Brown, J.K. 2002. Genetic variability of satellite DNA associated with monopartite begomoviruses of okra and hollyhock exhibiting vein-thickening symptoms. Arab J. Biotechnol. 5:67-82.
Legg, J., French, R., Rogan, D., Okao-Okuja, G., and Brown, J.K. 2002. A distinct Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae) genotype cluster is associated with the epidemic of severe cassava mosaic virus disease in Uganda. Mol. Ecol. 11: 1219-1229.
Briddon, R.W., Bull, S.E., Amin, I., Idris, A.M., Mansoor, S., Bedford, I.D., Dhawan, P., Rishi, N., Siwatch, S., Abdel-Salam, A.M., Brown, J.K., Zafar, Y., and Markham, P.G. 2003. Diversity of DNA beta: a satellite molecule associated with some monopartite begomoviruses. Virology 312: 106-121.
Idris, A.M., Hiebert, E., Bird, J., and Brown, J.K. 2003. Two new begomoviruses of Macroptilium lathyroides and common bean, the first non-BGYMV-like species of the BGYMV clade. Phytopathology 93: 774-783.
Rosell, R.C., Davidson, E.W., Jancovich, J.K., Hendrix, D.L. and Brown, J.K. 2003. Size limitations in the filter chamber and digestive tract of nymphal and adult Bemisia tabaci whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 96: 544-552.
Viscarret, M.M., Torres-Jerez, I., Agostini de Manero, E., López, S.N., Botto, E.E., and Brown, J.K. 2003. Mitochondrial DNA evidence for a distinct clade of New World Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) from Argentina and Bolivia, and presence of the Old World B biotype in Argentina. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 96:65-72.
Berry, S., Rey, M.E.C., Rogan, D., Fondong, V.N., Fauquet, C.M., and Brown, J.K. 2004. Molecular evidence for distinct Bemisia tabaci geographicaly genotypes from cassava in Africa. Ann. Entom. Soc. Am. 97: 852-859.
Brown, J.K., Idris, A.M., Ostrow, K.M., French, R., and Stenger, D.C. 2005. Genetic and phenotypic variation of three strains of the Pepper golden mosaic virus complex. Phytopathology 95: 1217-1224.
Fauquet, C.F., Sawyer, S., Idris, A.M., and Brown, J.K. 2005. Phylogeny and evidence for high degree of recombination in tomato-infecting begomoviruses from the Eastern Hemisphere. Phytopathology 95:549-555.
Idris, A.M., and Brown, J.K., 2005. Evidence for interspecific-recombination for three monopartite begomoviral genomes associated with the tomato leaf curl disease from central Sudan. Arch. Virol. 150: 1003-1012.
Idris, A.M., Briddon, R., Bull, S.E., and Brown, J.K. 2005. Cotton leaf curl Gezira virus-satellite DNAs represent a divergent, geographically- isolated Nile Basin lineage: Predictive identification of a satDNA REP binding motif. Virus Res. 109: 19-32.
Sseruwagi, P., Legg, J., Maruthi, M.N., Colvin, J., Rey, M.E.C., and Brown, J.K. 2005. Genetic diversity of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) populations and presence of the B biotype and a non-B biotype that can induce silverleaf symptoms in squash, in Uganda. Annals Appl. Biol. 147: 253-265.
Leshkowitz, D, Gazit, S., Reuveni, E., Ghanim, M., Czosnek, H., McKenzie, C., Shatters, R.L., and Brown, J.K. 2006. Whitefly EST sequencing project: analysis of 20,000 expressed sequence tags from egg, instar, and adult (viruliferous and non-viruliferous) whitefly cDNA libraries. BMC Genomics 7:79-98.
Sseruwagi. P., Maruthi, M.N., Colvin, J., Rey, M.E.C., Brown, J.K., and Legg, J.P. 2006. Colonization of non-cassava plant species by cassava whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) in Uganda. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 119:145-153.
Hernández-Zepeda, C., Idris, A.M., Brown, J.K., and Moreno-Valenzuela, O.A. 2007. Molecular characterization and experimental host range of Euphorbia mosaic virus-Yucatan Peninsula, a begomovirus species in the Squash leaf curl virus clade. Plant Pathol. 56:763-770.
Martinez-Carillo, J. L., and Brown, J.K. 2007. First report of the Q biotype of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) in southern Sonora, Mexico. Phytoparasitica 35:282-284.
Qiu, B.-L., Coats, S.A., Ren, S.X., Idris, A.M., Caixia, X.U., and Brown, J.K. 2007. Phylogenetic relationships of native and introduced Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) from China and India based on mtCOI sequencing and host plant comparisons. Prog. Nat. Sci. 17: 645-654.
Idris, A.M., Mills-Lujan, K., Baumann, K., and Brown, J.K. 2008. Melon chlorotic leaf curl virus: characterization and differential reassortment with closest relatives reveals adaptive virulence in the SLCV clade, and host shifting by the host-restricted BCaMV. J. Virol. 82:1959-1967.
Nunes, E.S., Brown, J.K., Moreira, A.G., Watson, G., Lourenção, A.L., Piedade, S.M.S., Rezende, J.A.M., and Vieria, M.L.C. 2008. First report and differential colonization of Passiflora species by the B biotype of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in Brazil. Neotropical Entomology 37: 744-746.
Rajaei Shoorcheh, H., Kazemi, B., Manzari, S., Brown, J.K., and Sarafrazi, A. 2008. Genetic variation and mtCOI phylogeny for Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) indicate that the ‘B’ biotype predominates in Iran. J. Pest. Sci. 8: 199-206.
Tuttle, J.R., Idris, A.M., Brown, J.K., Haigler, C.H., and Robertson, D. 2008. Extensive geminivirus-mediated gene silencing from Cotton leaf crumple virus enhanced by low temperatures in Gossypium hirsutum. Plant Physiol. doi10.1104/pp.108.123869.
Cicero, J. M., Brown, J.K., Roberts, P.D., and Stansly, P.A. 2009. The digestive system of Diaphorina citri (Kuwayama) and Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) (Homoptera: Psyllidae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 102:650-665.
Papayiannis, L.C., Hunter, S.C., Iacofides, T., and Brown, J.K. 2009. Detection of Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus in cucurbit leaves using sap extracts and real-time TaqMan® reverse transcription (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR). J. Phytopathol doi10.1111/j.1439-0434.2009.01647.x.
Chu, D., Wan, F.H., Zhang, Y.J., and Brown, J.K. 2010. Change in the biotype composition of Bemisia tabaci in Shandong Province of China from 2005 to 2008. Environ. Entomol 39:1028-1036.
Hernández-Zepeda, C., Brown, J.K., Moreno-Valenzuela, O.A., Argüello-Astorga, G., Idris, A.M., Carnevali, G., and Rivera-Bustamante, R.F. 2010. Characterization of Rhynchosia yellow mosaic Yucatan virus, a new recombinant begomovirus associated with two fabaceous weeds in Yucatan, Mexico. Arch. Virol. 155:1571-1579.
Hernández-Zepeda, C., Argüello-Astorga, G., Idris, A.M., Carnevali, G., Brown, J.K., and Moreno-Valenzuela, O.A. 2009. Molecular characterization and phylogenetic relationships of Desmodium leaf distortion virus (DeLDV): a new begomovirus infecting Desmodium glabrum in Yucatan, Mexico. Virus Genes 39: 371-374 [doi:10.1007/s11262-009-0398-02].
Idris, A.M., Tuttle, J.R., Haigler, C.H., Robertson, D., and Brown, J.K. 2010. Differential Cotton leaf crumple virus-VIGS-mediated gene silencing and viral genome localization in different cotton genetic backgrounds. Physiol. Mol. Pl. Pathol. doi:10.1016/j.pmpp.2010.07.002
Papayiannis, L.C., Iacovides, T.A., Katis, N.K., and Brown, J.K. 2010. Differentiation of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus and Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus using real time TaqMan® PCR. J. Virol. Methods 165:238-45.
Brown, J.K., Mills-Lujan, K. and Idris, A.M. 2011. Phylogenetic analysis of Melon chlorotic leaf curl virus from Guatemala, another emergent species in the Squash leaf curl virus clade. Virus Res. 158: 257–262. doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2011.03.002.
Cicero, J.M., and Brown, J.K. 2011. Functional anatomy of whitefly organs associated with Squash leaf curl virus (Geminiviridae: Begomovirus) transmission by the B Biotype of Bemisia tabaci (Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 104:261-279.
Cicero, J. M. and Brown, J.K. 2011. The anatomy of the accessory salivary glands of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera), and correlations to begomovirus transmission. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 104:280-286.
Idris, A.M., Shahid, M.S., Briddon, R.W., Khan, A.J., Zhu, J.K., and Brown, J.K. 2011. An unusual alphasatellite associated with monopartite begomoviruses attenuates symptoms and reduces betasatellite accumulation. J Gen Virol. 92:706-717.
Leke, W.N., Brown, J.K., Ligthart, M.E., Sattar, N., Dominic, K., Njualem, D.K., and Kvarnheden, A. 2011. Ageratum conyzoides: a host to a unique begomovirus disease complex in Cameroon. Virus Res. doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2011.09.039.
Chu, D., Tao, Y.L., Zhang, Y.J., Wan, F.H., and Brown, J.K. 2012. Effects of host, temperature and relative humidity on competitive displacement of two invasive Bemisia tabaci biotypes [Q and B]. Insect Sci. 19: 595–603. DOI 10.1111/j.1744-7917.2011.01500.x.
Cicero, J.C., and Brown, J.K. 2012. Ultrastructural studies of the salivary duct system in the whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci (Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 105: 701-717; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/AN12030).
Esterhuizen, L.L., Mabasa, K.G., Van Heerden, S.W., Czosnek, H., Brown, J.K., Van Heerden, J.H., and Rey, M.E.C. 2012. Genetic identification of members of the Bemisia tabaci cryptic species complex from South Africa reveals native and introduced haplotypes. J. Appl. Entomol. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0418.2012.01720.x.
Götz, M., Popovski, S., Kollenberg, M., Gorovitz, R., Brown, J.K., Cicero, J., Czosnek, H., Winter, S., and Ghanim, M. 2012. Implication of Bemisia tabaci heat shock protein 70 in begomovirus - whitefly interactions. J. Virol. 86:13241-13252. doi:10.1128/JVI.00880-12.
Pan, H., Chu, D., Yan, W., Su, Q., Liu, B., Wang, S., Wu, Q., Xie, W., Jiao, X., Li, R., Yang, N., Yang, X., Xu, B., Brown, J.K., Zhou, X., and Zhang, Y. 2012. Rapid spread of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus in China is aided differentially by two invasive whitefly biotypes. PLoS O 7(4): e34817. doi:10.1371/.
Hernandez-Zepeda, C., Versani, A., and Brown, J.K. 2013. Intergeneric recombination between a new, spinach-infecting curtovirus and a new geminiviral species in the proposed genus Becurtovirus: first New World exemplar. Arch. Virol. 11: 2245-2254. DOI 10.1007/s00705-013-1733-4.
Muhire, B., Martin, D.P., Brown, J.K., Navas-Castillo, J., Moriones, E., Zerbini, F.M., Rivera-Bustamante, R., Malathi, V.G., Briddon, R.W., and Varsani, A. 2013. A genome-wide pairwise-identity-based proposal
for the classification of viruses in the genus, Mastrevirus (family, Geminiviridae). Arch Virol. 158:1411-1424.
Fisher, T.W., M. Vyas, R. He, W. Nelson, J.M. Cicero, M. Willer, R. Kim, R. Kramer, G.A. May, J.A. Crow, C.A. Soderlund, D.R. Gang, and J.K. Brown. 2014. Comparison of potato and Asian citrus psyllid adult and nymph transcriptomes identified vector transcripts with potential involvement in circulative, propagative Liberibacter transmission. Pathogens 3: 875-907; doi: 10.3390/pathogens3040875.
Hosseinzadeh, M.R., Shamsbakhsh, M., Kazempour Osalou, S., and Brown, J.K. 2014. Phylogenetic relationships, recombination analysis, and genetic variability among diverse variants of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus in Iran and the Arabian Peninsula: further support for a TYLCV-center of diversity. Arch. Virol. 158: 485-497. DOI 10.1007/s00705-013-1851-z.
Idris, A.M., Al-Saleh, M.A., Piatek, M.J., Al-Shahwan, I., Ali, S., and Brown, J.K. 2014. Viral metagenomics: validation of genome enrichment coupled with Next Generation Sequencing reveals reproducibility between laboratory and field samples, and polymorphisms in begomovirus populations from natural plant infections. Viruses 6:1219-1236; doi:10.3390/v6031219.
H., Hermann, W., Jeremiah, S., Obiero, H., Ndyetabula, I., Tata-Hangy, W., Masembe, C., and Brown, J.K. 2014. Spatio-temporal patterns of genetic change amongst cassava Bemisia tabaci whiteflies driving virus pandemics in East and Central Africa. Virus Res. 186: 61-75. doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2013.11.018.
Brown, J.K., Zerbini, F.M., Navas-Castillo, J., Moriones, E., Ramos-Sobrinho, R., Silva, J.C.F., Briddon, R.W., Hernandez-Zepeda, C., Idris, A.M., Malathi, V.G., Martin, D.P., Rivera-Bustamante, R., Ueda, S., Varsani, A. 2015. Revision of Begomovirus taxonomy based on pairwise sequence comparisons. Arch. Virol. 160(6):1593-1619.
Cicero, J.M., Stansly, P.A., and Brown, J.K. 2015. Functional anatomy of the oral region of the potato psyllid (Hemiptera: Triozidae) Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 108: 743-761.
Vyas, M., Fisher, T., He, R., Nelson, W.H., Yin, G., Cicero, J.M., Willer, M., Kim, R., Kramer, R., May, G.A., Crow, J.A., Soderlund, C.A., Gang, D.R., and Brown, J.K. 2015. Asian citrus psyllid expression profiles suggest Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus-mediated alteration of adult nutrition and metabolism, and of nymphal development and immunity. PLoS One 10 (6), e0130328
Chen, W., Hasegawa, D.K., Kaur, N., Kliot, A., Pinheiro, P.V., Luan, J., Zheng, Y., Liu, W., Honghe, S., Xu, Y., Luo, Y., Kruse, A., Yang, X., Elimelech, M., Fisher, T.W., MacCoss, M., Johnson, R., Nelson, D.R., Cohen, E., Hunter, W.B., Brown, J.K., Jander, G., Cilia, M., Douglas, A.E., Ghanim, M., Simmons, A.L., Wintermantel, W.M., Ling, K.-S., Fei, Z. 2016. The genome of whitefly Bemisia tabaci MEAM1, a global crop pest, provides novel insights into virus transmission, host adaptation, and insecticide resistance. BMC Biology 14:110. DOI: 10.1186/s12915-016-0321-y.
Cicero, J. M., Fisher, T.W., and Brown, J.K. 2016. Localization of ‘Ca. Liberibacter solanacearum’and evidence for surface appendages in the potato psyllid vector. Phytopathology 106:142-154.
Hadjistylli, M., Roderick, G.K., and Brown, J.K. 2016. Global population structure of a worldwide pest and virus vector: genetic diversity and population history of the Bemisia tabaci sibling species group. PLoS One doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165105.
Quintela, E.; A. Abreu, J. Lima, G. Mascarin, and J.K. Brown. 2016. First report on natural reproduction of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in maize fields (Zea mays L.) in Brazil. Pest Mgmt. Sci. DOI: 10.1002/ps.4259.
Ahmad, A., Zia-Ur-Rehman, M., Hameed, U., Qayyum Rao, A., Ahad, A., Yasmeen, A., Akram, F., Bajwa, K.S., Scheffler, J., Nasir, I.A. and Shahid, A.A., Iqbal, M.J., Husnain, T., Haider, M.S., and Brown, J.K. 2017. Engineered disease resistance in cotton using RNA-interference to knock down Cotton leaf curl Kokhran virus-Burewala and Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite expression. Viruses 9:(9) 257. doi:10.3390/v9090257.
Brown, J.K., Zia Ur-Rehman, M., Avelar, S., Chingandu, N., Hameed, U., Haider, S., and Ilyas, M. 2017. Molecular diagnostic development for two begomovirus-betasatellite complexes undergoing diversification: A case study. Virus Res. 241:29-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2017.04.014.
Chingandu, N., Kouakou, K., Aka, R., Ameyaw, G., Gutierrez, O.A., and Brown, J.K. 2017a. The proposed new species, Cacao red vein virus, and three previously recognized badnaviruses are associated with cacao swollen shoot disease. Virol. J. 14:199. DOI 10.1186/s12985-017-0866-6.
Chingandu, N., Kouakou, K., Aka, R., Gutierrez, O. A., and Brown, J. K. 2017b. Unexpected genome variability at multiple loci suggests Cacao swollen shoot virus comprises multiple, divergent molecular variants. J Emerg Virol Dis 3: (1). doi http://dx.doi.org/10.16966/2473-1846.128.
Chingandu, N., Zia-Ur-Rehman, M., Sreenivasan, T.N., Surujdeo-Maharaj, S., Umaharan, P., Gutierrez, O.A., and Brown, J.K. 2017. Previously-elusive badnaviruses associated with symptomatic cacao in Trinidad, the first cacao-infecting viruses in the New World. Arch. Virol. 162 (5):1363–1371. doi:10.1007/s00705-017-3235-2
Cicero, J.M., Fisher, T.W., Qureshi, J.A., Stansly, P.A., and Brown, J.K. 2017. Colonization and intrusive invasion of potato psyllid by ‘Ca. Liberibacter solanacearum’. Phytopathology 107:36-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/ PHYTO-03-16-0149-R.
Masood, M., Amin, I., Hassan, I., Mansoor, S., Brown, J.K., and Briddon R.W. 2017. Diversity and distribution of the Bemisia tabaci complex in Pakistan. J. Econ. Entomol. doi: 10.1093/jee/tox221.
Vyas, M., Raza, A., Ali, A.M., Ashraf, M.A., Mansoor, S., Ahmad, A.S., and Brown, J.K. 2017. Knock down of whitefly gut gene expression and mortality by orally delivered gut gene-specific dsRNA. PLoS ONE 12(1): e0168921. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.016892.
Xie, W., Chen, C., Yang, Z., Guo, L., Yang, X., Wang, D., Chen, M., Huang, J., Wen, Y., Zeng, Y., Liu, Y., Xia, J., Tian, L., Cui, H., Wu, Q., Wang, S., Xu, B., Li, X., Xinqiu Tan, X., Ghanim, M., Qiu, B., Pan, H., Chu, D., Delatte, H., Maruthi, M.N., Ge, F., Zhou,X., Wang, X., Wan, F., Du, Y., Luo, C., Yan, F., Preisser, E.L., Jiao, X., Coates, B. S., Zhao, J., Gao, Q., Xia, J., Yin, Y., Yong Liu, Y., Brown, J.K, Zhou, X., and Zhang, Y. 2017. Genome sequencing of the sweetpotato whitefly Bemsia tabaci MED/Q. GigaScience 6:1-7. 2017, doi: 10.1093/gigascience/gix018/.
Idris, A.M., Al-Saleh, M.A., and Brown, J.K. 2018. Minimal genomic variability between Merremia mosaic virus from endemic Merremia spp. and cultivated tomato in Puerto Rico, is indicative of a recent host shift. Virus Dis. 30 (1):84-94. doi: 10.1007/s13337-017-0412-6.
Park, S. H., Kyndt, J., Starkenburg, S., and Brown, J.K. 2018. Low-phosphate-selected Auxenochlorella protothecoides redirects phosphate to essential pathways while producing more biomass. PLoS ONE 13(6):1-22 e0198953. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198953.
Park, S.H., Steichen, S.A., Li, X., Ogden, K., and Brown, J.K. 2018. Association of Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus with decline and death of Chlorella sorokiniana in outdoor reactors. J. Appl. Phycol. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-018-1633-9.
Attalah, S., Waller, P., Steichen, S., Brown, C.C., Gao, S., Ogden, K., and Brown, J.K. 2019. Application of deoxygenation-aeration cycling to control a predatory bacterium Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus in Chlorella sorokiniana cultures. Algal Res. 39: 1427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2019.101427.
Avelar, S., Ramos-Sobrinho, R., Conner, K., Nichols, R.L., Lawrence, K. and Brown, J.K. 2019. Characterization of the complete genome and P0 protein for a previously unreported strain of Cotton leafroll dwarf virus, an introduced polerovirus in the USA. Plant Dis. 104: 780-786. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-19-1316-RE.
Chingandu, N., Dongo, L., Gutierrez, O.A., and Brown, J.K. 2019. Molecular characterization and detection of Cacao red vein-banding virus, a previously unidentified badnavirus species associated with cacao swollen shoot disease in Nigeria. Plant Dis. 103 (4): 1302-1308. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-18-1561-RE; Erratum: Plant Dis. 103(6): 2147. https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/PDIS-09-18-1561.1-RE.
De Moya, R.S., Brown, J.K., Sweet, A.D., Walden, K.K.O, Paredes Montero, J.R., Waterhouse, R.M., and Johnson, K.P. 2019. Nuclear orthologs derived from whole genome sequencing indicate cryptic diversity in the Bemisia tabaci (Insecta: Aleyrodidae) complex of whiteflies. Diversity 11:151. doi:10.3390/d11090151.
Hovde, B., Steichen, S. A., Starkenburg, S.R., and Brown, J.K. 2020. Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus draft genome sequence, annotation, and preliminary characterization of pathogenicity determinants. Phycol. Res. 68: 23–29. doi: 10.1111/pre.12392.
Molki, B., Ha, P.-T., Cohen, A.L., Crowder, D.W., Gang D.R., Omsland, A., Brown, J.K., and Beyenal, H. 2019. The infection of bacterial plant pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum is associated with altered physiology of its insect host. Enzyme Microb Technol. 129:109358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enzmictec.2019.109358.
Paredes Montero, J.R., Hameed, U., Zia-Ur-Rehman, M., Rasool, G., Haider, M.S., Hermann, H.-W., and Brown, J.K. 2019. Demographic expansion of the predominant Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Mitotypes associated with the Cotton leaf curl virus epidemic in Pakistan. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 112(3):265-280. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saz002.
Phuc T. Ha, Ruifeng He, Nabil Killiny, Judith K. Brown, Anders Omsland, David R. Gang, and Haluk Beyenal. 2019. Host-free biofilm culture of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus,’ the bacterium associated with Huanglongbing. Biofilm 1: 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioflm.2019.100005
Steichen, S., and Brown, J.K. 2019. Real-time, quantitative detection of Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus, a bacterial pathogen of Chlorella sorokiniana. J. Appl. Phycol. 31(2):1117–1129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-018-1659-z.
Mondal, M., Brown, J.K. and Flynt, A. 2020. Exploiting somatic piRNAs in the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci enables a new mode of gene silencing through synthetic RNA feeding. Life Sciences Alliance 3(10): 1-13, doi 10.26508/lsa.202000731.
Paredes Montero, J.R., Ibarra, M.A., Arias, M., Peralta, E., and Brown, J.K. 2020. Phylo-biogeographical distribution of whitefly Bemisia tabaci mitotypes in Ecuador. Ecosphere 11(6): e03154. 10.1002/ ecs2.3154.
Paredes Montero, J. R., Zia-Ur-Rehman, M., Hameed, U., Herrmann H.-W., Rasool, G., Haider, M.S., and Brown, J.K. 2020. Genetic variability, community structure, and horizontal transfer of Arsenophonus OTUs among three Asia II-Bemisia tabaci mitotypes in Pakistan. Ecol Evol. 00:1–16. https ://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6107.
Ramos-Sobrinho, R., Chingandu, N., Gutierrez, O.A., Marelli, J.-P., and Brown, J.K. 2020. Analysis of 82 genomes associated with a global complex of badnavirus species infecting cacao reveals mixed infections, extensive genomic variability, and interspecific recombination. Viruses 12:443. doi:10.3390/v12040443.
Roberts, A., Boeckman, C.J., Mühl, M., Romeis, J., Teem, J.L., Hercos, Valicente, F., Brown, J.K., Edwards, M.G., Levine, S.L., Melnick, R.L., Rodrigues, T.B., Vélez, A.M., Zhou, X. and Hellmich, R.L. 2020. Sublethal endpoints in non-target organism testing for insect-active GE crops. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 8:556. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00556.
Steichen, S.A., Gao, S., Waller, P., and Brown, J.K. 2020. Association between algal productivity and phycosphere composition in an outdoor Chlorella sorokiniana reactor based on multiple longitudinal analyses. Microbial Biotechnology(2020)0(0), 1–16. doi:10.1111/1751-7915.13591.

Teaching Responsibilities

  • PLP/MIC 333 Virology (3 units), every other Spring semester
  • PLP/MIC 611 Virology (3 units), every other Fall Semester
  • Journal Club Specialty Topics

Research Areas

  • Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology
  • Controlled Environment Agriculture
  • Genomics, Bioinformatics, and Systems Biology
  • Microbiology
  • Plant Protection and Pathology