James G. Menzies, Ph.D.

Image James Garner Menzies
Research Scientist - Phytopathologist

Research on the fungal smut pathogens of cereals, crown rust of oats and ergot on wheat, focused mostly on genetics.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Route 100, Unit 100-101, Morden, MB

Current research and/or projects

Identifying and characterizing sournces of resistance to the smut fungi in cereals, crown rust of oats and ergot of wheat.

Working to develop genetic markers for resistance to aid breeding programs.

Studying the genetics of the pathogens in terms of virulence to better understand the pathogen populations and provide informative advice to plant breeders.

 

Research and/or project statements

Genetics of resistance in wheat to ergot, oat to crown rust and cereals for the smut fungi.

Virulence assessement of collections of Puccinia coronata var avenae f. sp. avenae in western Canada (particularly Manitoba)

Assessment of resistance to the smut fungi, and crown rust in wheat, barley and oats to aid in development of new commercial cereal lines.

Professional activities / interests

Plant Pathology

Cereals

Genetics

Host-Pathogen interactions

Education and awards

Ph.D., University of Guelph, 1987

M.Sc. University of Manitoba, 1983

B.Sc. University of Winnipeg, 1979

Award for Outstanding Research, Canadian Phytopathological Society

International experience and/or work

Collaborative research projects with colleagues in the United Kingdom, the Unites States of America, Poland, China

Key publications

  1. Xue, A., S. Lim, Y. Chen, G. Humphreys, J. Menzies, C. Cowger, H. Li and M. Sarjazari (2021) Virulence structure of the powdery mildew population and effective resistance genes in Ontario in 2018 and 2019. 2021 CPS-CSA-CHSH Tri-Society Conference, Virtual Poster & Abstract, July 5-9, 2021.

    2021 - View publication details

  2. Zhao, J., Kebede, A.Z., Bekele, W.A., Menzies, J.G., Chong, J., Mitchell Fetch, J.W., Tinker, N.A., Beattie, A.D., Peng, Y.Y., McCartney, C.A. (2020). Mapping of the oat crown rust resistance gene PC39 relative to single nucleotide polymorphism markers. Plant Disease, [online] 104(5), 1507-1513. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-19-2002-RE

    2020 - View publication details

  3. Randhawa, H.S., Brown, P.D., Fetch, J.M., Fetch, T., Gilbert, J., McCallum, B., Menzies, J., Gaudet, D. (2020). Aac crossfield red spring wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 100(2), 239-244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2019-0237

    2020 - View publication details

  4. Kebede, A.Z., Admassu-Yimer, B., Bekele, W.A., Gordon, T., Bonman, J.M., Babiker, E., Jin, Y., Gale, S., Wight, C.P., Tinker, N.A., Menzies, J.G., Beattie, A.D., Mitchell Fetch, J., Fetch, T.G., Esvelt Klos, K., McCartney, C.A. (2020). Mapping of the stem rust resistance gene Pg13 in cultivated oat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics (TAG), [online] 133(1), 259-270. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00122-019-03455-5

    2020 - View publication details

  5. Piché, I., Konkin, D.J., Knox, R., Menzies, J.G., Ruan, Y., Cuthbert, R., Poppy, M., Colenutt, T., and Campbell, H. 2019. Validation of exome capture sequence facilitated marker improvement for ergot resistance screening in durum wheat. 1st International Wheat Congress, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.

    2019 - View publication details

  6. Shoukouhi, P., Hicks, C., Menzies, J.G., Popovic, Z., Chen, W., Seifert, K.A., Assabgui, R., Liu, M. (2019). Phylogeny of Canadian ergot fungi and a detection assay by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Mycologia, [online] 111(3), 493-505. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2019.1581018

    2019 - View publication details

  7. M. Liu, W. Findlay, P. Shoukouhi, K. Dadej, H. D. T. Nguyen, J. G. Menzies, K. A. Seifert. 2019. A reminiscence of evolutionary hourglass: The pattern of ergot alkaloid gene divergence in Claviceps purpurea.

    2019 - View publication details

  8. Wingfield, B.D., Liu, M., Nguyen, H.D.T., Lane, F.A., Morgan, S.W., De Vos, L., Markus Wilken, P., Duong, T.A., Aylward, J., Coetzee, M.P.A., Dadej, K., De Beer, Z.W., Findlay, W., Havenga, M., Kolarík, M., Menzies, J.G., Naidoo, K., Pochopski, O., Shoukouhi, P., Santana, Q.C., Seifert, K.A., Soal, N., Steenkamp, E.T., Tatham, C.T., van der Nest, M.A., Wingfield, M.J. (2018). Nine draft genome sequences of Claviceps purpurea s.lat., including C. arundinis, C. humidiphila, and C. cf. spartinae, pseudomolecules for the pitch canker pathogen Fusarium circinatum, draft genome of Davidsoniella eucalypti, Grosmannia galeiformis, Quambalaria eucalypti, and Teratosphaeria destructans. IMA Fungus, [online] 9(2), 401-418. http://dx.doi.org/10.5598/imafungus.2018.09.02.10

    2018 - View publication details

  9. Legge, W.G., Badea, A., Tucker, J.R., Fetch, T.G., Banik, M., Haber, S., Menzies, J.G., Tekauz, A., Turkington, T.K., Martin, R.A., Choo, T.M., Blackwell, B.A., Savard, M.E. (2018). AAC goldman barley. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 98(5), 1203-1211. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2017-0361

    2018 - View publication details

  10. Kumar, S., Fox, S.L., Humphreys, D.G., Mitchell Fetch, J., Green, D., Fetch, T., McCallum, B., Menzies, J. (2017). AAC prevail Canada western red spring wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 98(2), 475-482. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/CJPS-2017-0193

    2017 - View publication details

  11. Liu M, Shoukouhi P, Menzies J, Popovic Z, Liang J, Seifert K, Assabgui R. 2017 New Canadian lineages of ergot fungi revealed by multi-gene phylogeny. XIX International Botanic Congress Abstracts.

    2017 - View publication details

  12. Menzies, J.G., Klein-Gebbinck, H.W., Gordon, A., O’Sullivan, D.M. (2017). Evaluation of Claviceps purpurea isolates on wheat reveals complex virulence and host susceptibility relationships. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, [online] 39(3), 307-317. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2017.1355334

    2017 - View publication details

  13. Kassa, M.T., You, F.M., Hiebert, C.W., Pozniak, C.J., Fobert, P.R., Sharpe, A.G., Menzies, J.G., Humphreys, D.G., Rezac Harrison, N., Fellers, J.P., McCallum, B.D., McCartney, C.A. (2017). Highly predictive SNP markers for efficient selection of the wheat leaf rust resistance gene Lr16. BMC Plant Biology, [online] 17(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12870-017-0993-7

    2017 - View publication details

  14. Legge, W.G., Badea, A., Tucker, J.R., Fetch, T.G., Haber, S., Menzies, J.G., Tekauz, A., Turkington, T.K., Martin, R.A., Choo, T.M., Blackwell, B.A., Savard, M.E. (2017). AAC connect barley. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 97(3), 539-548. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2016-0312

    2017 - View publication details

  15. McCartney, C.A., Kassa, M.T., Hiebert, C.W., You, F.M., Pozniak, C.J., Fobert, P., Sharpe, A.G., Menzies, J.G., Jordan, M.C., Zhu, T., Luo, M.-C., and Fetch Jr., T.G. (2016). "High resolution mapping of the stem rust resistance gene SrCad.", XXIV Plant and Animal Genome Conference, San Diego, USA, January 9-13, 2016.

    2016 - View publication details

  16. Brown, P.D., Randhawa, H.S., Fetch, J.M., Meiklejohn, M., Fox, S.L., Humphreys, D.G., Green, D., Wise, I., Fetch, T., Gilbert, J., McCallum, B., Menzies, J. (2016). Conquer red spring wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 97(1), 147-152. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2016-0107

    2016 - View publication details

  17. Kassa, M.T., You, F.M., Fetch, T.G., Fobert, P., Sharpe, A., Pozniak, C.J., Menzies, J.G., Jordan, M.C., Humphreys, G., Zhu, T., Luo, M.C., McCartney, C.A., Hiebert, C.W. (2016). Genetic mapping of SrCad and SNP marker development for marker-assisted selection of Ug99 stem rust resistance in wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics (TAG), [online] 129(7), 1373-1382. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00122-016-2709-z

    2016 - View publication details

  18. Fox, S.L., Kumar, S., Thomas, J.B., Humphreys, D.G., Mitchell Fetch, J., Green, D., Wise, I., Smith, M., Fetch, T., Gilbert, J., McCallum, B., Menzies, J. (2016). AAC cameron Canada western red spring wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 96(6), 1065-1072. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2016-0011

    2016 - View publication details

  19. McCartney, C.A., Kassa, M.T., You, F.M., McCallum, B.D., Hiebert, C.W., Cabral, A.L., Panwar, V., Pozniak, C.J., Menzies, J.G., Humphreys, D.G., Fobert, P., Sharpe, A.G., and Jordan, M.C. (2015). "Progress towards sequencing the leaf rust resistance gene Lr16.", 9th International Wheat Conference 2015, Sydney, Australia, September 20-25, 2015.

    2015 - View publication details

  20. Menzies, J.G., Xue, A.G., Gruenke, J., Dueck, R., Saramaga, C., Popovic, Z., and Dykstra, T. (2015). "Crown rust of oat in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario in 2013.", Canadian Plant Disease Survey, 95, pp. 103-105.

    2015 - View publication details

Contact

Research facility

Morden Research and Development Centre
Route 100, Unit 100-101
Morden, MB R6M 1Y5
Canada

Expertise

Agriculture›Cereals
Plant›Pathology›Fungus

Affiliations

Laval University, Quebec, Quebec

Canadian Phytopathological Society

Language

English