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C. Michael Deom was raised in Carmi, Illinois. He earned a BS and an MS in microbiology from Southern Illinois University and a PhD in microbiology from the St. Louis University School of Medicine. After completing post-doctoral research and holding a position as research professor at Washington University, Deom joined the faculty at the University of Georgia (UGA) in 1991 to study plant virus–host interactions. He is currently a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology. Since joining UGA, Deom has been actively involved in international agricultural research in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America that is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future Innovation Labs. His research emphasis has been on crop improvements against economically significant diseases that contribute to food security and poverty alleviation in rural communities of developing countries.
Since 1996, Deom has led a multidisciplinary, trans-institutional project funded by USAID on groundnut (peanut) rosette disease (GRD) in sub-Saharan Africa. In epidemic years, GRD can cause groundnut yield losses of more than $150 million. Groundnut is a nutrient-dense food with well-documented health benefits. GRD is arguably the most important biotic constraint to groundnut sustainability in the African subcontinent. It is a complex viral disease with two distinct symptom types and involving two distinct viruses and a satellite RNA; it is transmitted by the cowpea aphid. Deom has established productive collaborations with groundnut breeders from the National Agricultural Research Systems of Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique and with scientists from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT–Malawi) to conduct translational research for practical applications in farmers' fields. His endeavors during the past 23 years have contributed to a better understanding of the epidemiology of GRD and to implementation of integrated strategies for controlling the disease. His collaboration with Dr. David Okello in Uganda has resulted in the release of high-yielding groundnut cultivars and breeding lines with durable resistance to GRD suitable for Uganda and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Deom's group has released one variety in Malawi ('Baka' in 2001) and 14 varieties in Uganda ('Serenut' series 4T-14R and DOK1-3 from 2002 to 2019). As resistant lines have been improved and released in Uganda, they have been disseminated throughout sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, southern Sudan, and Zambia.
Deom's focus on high-yielding and early maturing (90–110 days) Spanish and Virginia groundnut types with GRD resistance is noteworthy, because these cultivars can escape late-season drought and Aspergillus-induced aflatoxin contamination triggered by drought stress. Given groundnut's lack of natural resistance to Aspergillus spp., minimizing drought stress in GRD-resistant cultivars is an important strategy for preventing aflatoxin contamination, which is a serious health problem in Africa. In addition, Deom's team has been able to transfer GRD resistance traits into four popular land races in Uganda. Land races are historically the most preferred cultivars, so incorporating GRD resistance into land races results in rapid acceptance of the improved varieties by farmers and consumers in Uganda and other countries in the region. Deom's team is actively pursuing gene-pyramiding strategies for combining resistance against late leafspot disease, a fungal disease that severely affects groundnut production in sub-Saharan Africa, with GRD resistance as part of enhanced durable resistance against fungal and viral diseases in groundnut. Additionally, his team is pursuing breeding programs to combine GRD resistance with traits conferring high oleic content for enhanced nutritional quality of groundnuts to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease among consumers.
In collaboration with George Norton at Virginia Tech, Deom has conducted an economic impact study to showcase the benefits of GRD-resistant groundnut cultivars in alleviating poverty and improving the livelihoods of small-holder farmers in Uganda. His research with Boris Bravo-Ureta at the University of Connecticut on GRD-resistant cultivars in Uganda and Kenya showed that farmers who adopted improved cultivars had significant income gains over those who cultivated nonimproved local varieties. In a 10-year study, participating farmers allocated 21% more of their available land to improved varieties; beneficiaries produced 32% higher yields than their nonparticipating neighbors. This work also showed that development of strong network structures among farmer communities and farmer participatory approaches has increased the rapid adoption of GRD-resistant cultivars across many African countries. Deom's research has identified knowledge gaps in seed production and distribution systems and promoted public–private partnerships for rapid acceptance of improved groundnut cultivars. In collaboration with Naidu Rayapati at Washington State University, Deom has studied the genetic diversity of the causative agents of GRD from different agro-ecological zones of sub-Saharan Africa. This knowledge has been used to optimize durable resistance against GRD and to elucidate the complex interactions between the causative agents of GRD and the aphid vector required for its transmission.
Through projects funded by the USAID–Integrated Pest Management Innovation Lab, Deom collaborated with Reina Teresa Martinez of the Dominican Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Investigations in the Dominican Republic to establish a functional diagnostic laboratory and to provide training and diagnostic re-agents to successfully implement IPM strategies for controlling virus diseases of vegetables. Deom collaborated with Margarita Palmer at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and with Dr. Wayne Parrott at UGA on developing tissue culture and molecular biology techniques for transforming papaya for resistance to papaya ringspot virus and for virus disease diagnosis. Deom co-developed a study-abroad course in Brazil entitled “Topics in International Agriculture: Sustainable Systems in Brazil." He has contributed to genome characterization of peanut yellow spot virus and peanut clump virus infecting groundnut in India and West Africa.
Deom has published more than 80 journal articles, reviews, technical manuals, book chapters, and proceedings papers. He has served as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Virology; as chair of The American Phytopathological Society (APS) Virology Committee; as associate editor and senior editor of Phytopathology; and as an ad hoc reviewer for APS journals, including MPMI, Phytopathology, and Plant Disease. Deom's outstanding achievements and contributions to international agriculture illustrate his long-standing commitment and dedication to improving agriculture for alleviating hidden hunger and poverty in the developing world.
