Commodity Areas Disciplines Appointments
  • Peanuts
  • Plant Breeding, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Teaching (Graduate)

Dr. Stalker received his B. S. and M. S. degrees in Agronomy from the University of Arizona in 1971 and 1972, respectively. He received a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Illinois in 1977 and was a research associate at N. C. State University for 2 years prior to being appointed as an Assistant Professor in 1979 to work in peanut cytogenetics and interspecific hybridization. He was promoted to Professor in 1989.

During the past 27 years he has traveled in South America, Asia, and Africa to collect plant genetic resources and to improve peanut production as part of a USAID international cooperative support program. His principal responsibilities have been to preserve wild peanut germplasm and to incorporate useful genes from the Arachis species into the cultivated peanut. In 1999 he was appointed Head of the Department of Crop Science.

Dr. Stalker teaches actively in the Crop Science Society of America and American Peanut Research and Education Society. He is a member of the U.S. Legume Genomics Steering Committee and Chair of the U.S. Peanut Genomics Committee. He has served as Editor of Peanut Science since 1994.

Germplasm

Germplasm collection

More than 300 accessions of peanut species are maintained in the NCSU germplasm collection as living plants or as seed stocks. Passport information for all Arachis species collections has been accumulated in databases. The information is being used to determine centers of variation and to identify regions where additional collection is needed. Species are evaluated to identify sources of disease and insect resistance, especially for fungal pathogens, viruses, nematodes, and soil-borne insects.

Origin and variation of peanut species

Peanut species have been characterized based on morphological, cytogenetic, and molecular traits. Relationships among species are being determined to understand patterns of evolution and to identify species that may be useful for crop improvement. Molecular marker analyses have indicated little variation in the cultivated peanut, but large amounts of variation among Arachis species. Studies are in progress to identify progenitors of A. hypogaea. 		Origin and variaton of peanut species
utilization of peanut species

Utilization of peanut species

The cultivated peanut is a polyploid whereas most cross-compatible species are diploids. Thus, investigations to utilize wild species have included identifying causes for hybrid sterility and ways to produce fertile progenies. These studies include analyses of reproductive development, manipulation of ploidy levels, and determining chromosome associations and genetic recombination. Molecular markers are utilized to investigate the amount of gene incorporation from wild species to the cultivated peanut.

Population improvement and evaluation

Interspecific hybrid populations that are fully cross-compatible with the cultivated peanut are evaluated in the laboratory, greenhouse, and field for pathogen resistance and market acceptability. Improved germplasm lines with leaf spot, nematode, and insect resistances have been developed and germplasm is being incorporated into traditional plant breeding programs. New sources of nematode, tomato spotted wild virus, and Sclerotinia blight resistances have been identified and the inheritance of these traits is being investigated.		 Population Improvement

Current Project Group

Dr. Shyamalrau Tallury, Senior Researcher, conducts cytogenetic and molecular investigations with cultivated and wild peanut species. He is responsible for maintenance of the peanut germplasm collection, interspecific hybridization projects, and germplasm evaluation for host-plant resistances. Jeanette Lyerly is investigating molecular variation in peanut, wheat and other crop species.

Selected Publications (complete list in vitae)

Stalker, H. T. and J. P. Murphy (eds.). 1992. Proceedings of the Symposium on Plant Breeding in the 1990s. CAB Intl. Press, Wallingford, UK 539 pp. 

Garcia, G. M., H. T. Stalker and G. A. Kochert. 1995. Introgression analysis of an interspecific hybrid population in peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) using RFLP and RAPD markers. Genome 38:166-176. 

Hilu, K. and H. T. Stalker. 1995. Genetic relationships between peanut and wild species of Arachis section Arachis (Fabaceae): Evidence from RAPDs. Plant Syst. Evol. 188:167-178. 

Tallury, S. P., H. T. Stalker and H. E. Pattee. 1995. Early reproductive ontogeny in interspecific crosses of Arachis hypogaea and section Arachis species. Annuals Botany 76: 397-404. 

Stalker, H. T., G. D. Kochert and J. S. Dhesi. 1995. Variation within the species A. duranensis, a possible progenitor of the cultivated peanut. Genome 38:1201-1212. 

Stalker, H. T. and C. E. Simpson. 1995. Genetic resources in Arachis, p.p. 14-53. In H. E. Pattee and H. T. Stalker (eds.), Advances in Peanut Science. Amer. Peanut Res. Educ. Soc., Stillwater, OK. 

Feng, Q. L., H. T. Stalker and H. E. Pattee. 1996. Plant recovery of selfs and interspecific hybrids of Arachis by in vitro culture of peg tips. Crop Sci. 36:1660-1666. 

Garcia, G. M., H. T. Stalker, E. Shroeder and G. Kochert. 1996. Identification of RAPD, SCAR and RFLP markers tightly linked to nematode resistance genes introgressed from Arachis cardenasii to A. hypogaea. Genome 39:836-845. 

Kochert, G., H. T. Stalker, M. Ginenes, L. Galgaro, and K. Moore. 1996. RFLP and cytogenetic evidence for the progenitor species of allotetraploid cultivated peanut, Arachis hypogaea, (Leguminosae) Amer. J. Bot. 83:1282-1291. 

Kochert, G. D., T. Halward and H. T. Stalker. 1996. Genetic variation in peanut and its implications in plant breeding, pp. 19-30. In B. Pickersgill and J. M. Lock (eds.) Advances in Legume Science 8: Legumes of Economic Importance. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK.

Stalker, H. T., T. Halward, and G. Kochert. 2001. pp. 285-299. RFLP map of peanut. pp. In: R. L. Phillips and I. K. Vasil (eds.) DNA-Based Markers in Plants, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands.

Holbrook, C. C. and H. T. Stalker. 2003. Peanut Breeding and Genetic Resources. Plant Breeding Reviews 22:297-355.
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