Bruce Fortnum, Clemson University tobacco plant pathologist, receives a bronze medal from Graham Read, president of the Centre De Cooperation Pour Les Rescherches Scientifiques Relatives Au Tabac (CORESTA), for efforts in screening tobacco germplasm for resistance to nematodes.

DATE: 1/4/2007

CONTACT: Dr. Bruce Fortnum, 843-662-3526, ext. 235; brftnm@clemson.edu

WRITER: Tom Lollis, 803-284-3343, ext. 241; tlollis@clemson.edu

Clemson scientist is honored for international tobacco work

FLORENCE – A Clemson University scientist has been honored in Paris, France for his efforts to find tobacco germplasm resistant to nematodes.

Bruce Fortnum, tobacco plant pathologist at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center, received a bronze medal for service to the Centre De Cooperation Pour Les Rescherches Scientifiques Relatives Au Tabac (CORESTA) during the 50 th anniversary celebration of the organization in October.

Fortnum, who has been on the Clemson faculty for 28 years, is in his eighth year as chairman of a germplasm evaluation committee.

“We obtain experimental tobacco lines from breeders throughout the world and evaluate the germplasm in a coordinated testing program for resistance to root-knot and cyst nematodes,” said Fortnum.

“Nematode parasites reduce tobacco yields on average about 15 percent worldwide. They are the primary reason that almost all tobacco produced in the United States is grown in soil that has been fumigated,” he said.

Fortnum oversees tests at multiple locations in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Tobacco seeds are shipped to a quarantine test site in South Africa, where they are tested and then shipped to test sites in Southern Africa and South America.

END