Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street
P.O. Box 1106
New Haven, CT 06504-1106
Voice: (203) 974-8498 Fax: (203) 974-8502
E-mail: Sandra.Anagnostakis@ct.gov

Expertise:
Anagnostakis has worked on the genetics of various fungi, including those that cause corn smut disease and Dutch elm disease.  She has been working on chestnut blight disease (caused by Cryphonectria parasitica) since 1968.  After completing basic studies with the fungus she imported Hypovirulent (virus containing) strains from France (1972) and demonstrated that they could be used in the U.S. for biological control of the disease.  She has worked on the ecology of the blight fungus and its control by hypovirulence, and studies of virulence in the fungus and resistance in the trees.  She continues the Experiment Station project on chestnut tree breeding experiments to produce better timber and orchard trees.  Current work has expanded to include canker diseases of butternut trees in Connecticut.

Education:
B.A. University of California at Riverside (1961); Biology
M.A. University of Texas at Austin (1966); Botany
Agr.D. Justus Liebig Universitaet, Germany (1985); Plant Pathology

Station career:
Technician I 1966-1967
Technician II 1967-1973
Asst. Scientist 1973-1982
Assoc. Scientist 1982-1992
Scientist 1992-

Past research:
Anagnostakis has worked on the genetics of various fungi, including those that cause corn smut disease and Dutch elm disease.  She has been working on chestnut blight disease (caused by Cryphonectria parasitica) since 1968.  After completing basic studies with the fungus she imported Hypovirulent (virus containing) strains from France (1972) and demonstrated that they could be used in the U.S. for biological control of the disease.

Current research:
Anagnostakis continues her work on the ecology of the blight fungus and its control by hypovirulence, and studies of virulence in the fungus and resistance in the trees.  She also is responsible for the Experiment Station project on chestnut tree breeding experiments to produce better timber and orchard trees.  Current work has recently expanded to include studying canker diseases of butternut trees in Connecticut.

Selected publications available from author, Sandra.Anagnostakis@ct.gov

• Anagnostakis, S. L.  2001.  American chestnut sprout survival with biological control of the chestnut-blight fungus population.  Forest Ecology and Management 152:225-233.

• Anagnostakis, S. L.  2001.  The effect of multiple importations of pests and pathogens on a native tree.  Biological Invasions 3:245-254.

• Anagnostakis, S. L.  2007.  Diaporthe eres (Phomopsis oblonga) as a pathogen of butternut (Juglans cinerea) in Connecticut.  Plant Disease 91:1198.

• Anagnostakis, S. L. S. Clark, and H. McNab.  2009.  Preliminary Report on the Segregation of Resistance in Chestnuts to Infestation by Oriental Chestnut Gall Wasp.  Acta Hort. (ISHS) 815:33-35.

• Anagnostakis, S. L.  2009.  Fats, Protin, Carbohydrates, and Fatty Acids in Chestnut Fruits.  Acta Hort. (ISHS) 815:57-60.

• Sisco, P.H., Sederoff, R.R., Tomkins, J.P., Carlson, J.E., Kubisiak, T.L., Staton, M.E., Hebard, F.V., Anagnostakis, S.L., Powell, W.A., and Smith, C.P.  2009.  The United States National.