Mar 20, 2018

MSU’s Sundin is Michigan Pomesters Fruit Person of the Year

George Sundin, Ph.D, professor in the Michigan State University (MSU) Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Services since 2002, has been named the Michigan Pomesters 2018 Fruit Person of the Year.

Amy Irish-Brown, senior tree fruit educator with MSU Extension, and a former honoree as Michigan Pomesters Fruit Person of the Year, introduced Sundin as this year’s award winner at the March 20 annual breakfast meeting of the group.

“George is one of the first true geniuses that I’ve had the privilege to meet and know,” Irish-Brown said. “He has a deep understanding of his role, and it’s completely awe-inspiring to me. I’ve learned a great deal in the opportunities that I’ve had working alongside George.

“He’s not afraid of cold weather. You’ll often see him wearing shorts, while other Michiganders still have their summer clothes stashed away,” she said.

“George is not afraid to get his hands dirty,” Irish-Brown said. “He’s always out there, rain or shine, to help students or employees. I heard last year there wasn’t enough help to plant a new cider apple orchard, and he came to help get trees in the ground, working well into the night to finish.”

Sundin, according to Irish-Brown, “is OK with having samples dropped off to his lab, but he’d much rather come out for the day to visit orchards, see the extent of damage firsthand, collect samples and meet growers.”

“Dr. George Sundin works tirelessly to bring new knowledge to the area of tree fruit pathology. He is well known and well respected researcher in the area of plant bacteria, post plant interactions, tree fruit disease management, bacterial plasma biology and microbial evolution.”

His general areas of expertise include plant bacteriology, host pathogen interactions, fruit tree disease management, bacterial plasmid biology and microbial evolution.

“Many of you have seen George’s images showing us examples of how damaging fire blight can be,” Irish-Brown said. “His lab also studies fungal tree fruit pathogens in Michigan and focuses on detecting and understanding the evolution of fungicide resistance in orders such as apple scab, cherry leaf spot and American brown rot.”

Sundin’s lab is currently working on the regulation of the major pathogenicity determinants type III secretion and amylovoran exopolysaccharide by regulatory small RNAs and cyclic di-GMP.

The lab has recently shown the importance of biofilm formation to E. amylovora pathogenesis, invasion of xylem, and systemic spread of the pathogen within trees.

Also being studied are E. amylovora plasmids, streptomycin resistance, and the creation of development and evaluation strategies to increase the potential for biological control of fire blight in the Midwest and eastern United States.

Sundin has produced several YouTube videos to enable growers to learn more about diseases.

“He is all you could expect and more in a tree fruit disease specialist,” Irish-Brown said. “We are so lucky to have him in Michigan. Congratulations, George, on being the Michigan Pomesters 2018 Fruit Person of the Year.”

“I really appreciate this,” Sundin said in accepting the award. “It means a lot to me. This is pretty amazing – very unexpected.”

“My role is to understand these diseases growers face and figure out the best ways currently and in the future to manage these diseases,” Sundin said. “In doing so, I have a big core of students who work in my lab, and I also have to prepare them for the future. I know some of those students are staying in this field. They go to different parts of the country, of course. We send them out into the world. Many of them are still working on fire blight and keeping this whole thing going.”

Sundin specifically thanked Irish-Brown, MSU Extension educator Phil Schwallier and Dawn Drake, manager of the Michigan Processing Apple Growers. Schwallier and Drake also have been recognized with the Michigan Pomesters’ Fruit Person of the Year Award.

“I came (to MSU) in 2002, and these people really helped me get my program set up. It’s been snowballing ever since, and we just keep on working,” Sundin said.

Sundin then presented a brief overview of current fire blight concerns, and led a discussion with those in attendance.

– Gary Pullano, FGN Managing Editor

Photo above: George Sundin accepts the 2018 Michigan Pomesters Fruit Person of the Year award from Michigan State University’s Amy Irish-Brown and Pomesters’ President RJ Simons. Photo: Gary Pullano