Donald L Smith
Dr Smith's research interests are in the area of crop eco-physiology. They can be broken down into several specific areas of activity. One of these is the use of signal compounds to improve legume nitrogen fixation under environmental conditions inhibitory to symbiosis development. This work has led to a number of publications, patents, and the establishment of a spin-off company. A second area is the use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) to increase the growth and yield of legumes and other crops. This led to the isolation of several new PGPR strains and the isolation of a material, produced by a PGPR, that causes direct stimulation of plant growth. A third area of research is the use of the signal compounds produced by rhizobia during the establishment of the rhizobia-legume symbiosis to directly promote plant growth. Fourth, research has begun on methods to increase the sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere into crop plants, for ultimate sequestration into soil, or for use in bioproducts. This is linked to the utilization of crop plants in greenhouse gas management.
Gray, E.J. and Smith, D.L. 2005. Intracellular and Extracellular PGPR: Commonalities and distinctions in the plant-bacterium signaling processes. Soil Biol Biochem 37:395-412.
Duzan, H.M., Zhou, X., Souleimanov, A. and Smith, D.L. 2004. Perception of Bradyrhizobium japonicum Nod factor by soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] root hairs under abiotic stress conditions. J Exp Bot 55:2641-2646.
Smith, D.L. and Almaraz, J.J. 2004. Climate change and crop production: Contributions, impacts and adaptations. Can J Plant Pathol 26: 253–266.
Bai, Y., Zhou, X. and Smith, D. 2003. Enhanced soybean plant growth due to coinoculation of Bacillus strains with Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Crop Sci. 43: 1774-1781
Madakadze, I.C., Madakadze, R.M., Stewart, K.A. and Smith, D.L. 2003. Base Temperatures for seedling growth and their correlation with chilling sensitivity for warm-season grasses. Crop Sci. 43: 874-878.
Costa, C., Dwyer, L.M., Dutilleul, P., Foroutan-pour, K., Liu, A., Hamel, C. and Smith, D.L. 2003. Morphology and fractal dimension of root systems of miaze hybrids bearing the leafy trait. Can. J. Bot. 81: 706–713.
Khan, W.M., Prithviraj, B., and Smith, D.L. 2003. Photosynthetic responses of corn and soybean to foliar application of salicylates. J. Plant Phys. 160:485-492.
Prithiviraj, B., Zhou, X., Souleimanov, A., Khan, W.K. and Smith, D.L. 2003. A host specific bacteria-to-plant signal molecule (Nod factor) enhances germination and early growth of diverse crop plants. Planta 216:437-445.
Zhang H., Prithiviraj, B., Souleimanov, A., D'Aoust, F., Charles, T.C., Driscoll, B.T. and Smith, D.L. 2002. The effect of temperature and genistein concentration on lipo-chitooligosaccharide (LCO) production by wild-type and mutant strains of Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 34:1175-1180.
Begna, S.H., L.M. Dwyer, D. Cloutier, L. Assemat , A. DiTommaso, X. Zhou and D.L. Smith. 2002. Decoupling of light intensity effects on the growth (biomass increase) and development of C 3 and C4 weed. Journal of Experimental Botany 53: 1935-1940.