Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, & Genomics at University of Georgia

10/15/2026

🎃🌱Spooky Season loading… Athens PBGG students blasting harvesting Orange Bulldog pumpkins! 🦇

🍁Graciously provided by Dr. McGregor, these pumpkins will be delivered to each of the three campuses and used for a pumpkin carving competition next week!🎃

10/14/2026

🧶 The Student Seminar Series resumes tomorrow! Next up to present is Iago Schardong! Iago’s presentation is entitled “The Cotton Jassid Challenge: Protecting U.S. Cotton against an emerging insect threat”. Hope to see you there!

10/13/2026

🥜🌱The Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics Graduate Student Association is happy to announce our Fall fresh peanut sale! We will be beginning the sale this Friday, October 16th and the following Friday, October 23rd. With the sale occurring between 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Sale will be located at the entrance to the CAGT parking lot at 111 Riverbend Rd, Athens, GA 30602.

We are selling green peanuts which can be bought and used for boiling at home. We willing be handing out cooking recipes for boiled peanuts during the sale as well.

We are offering two options of fresh peanuts for your boiling needs:
1 lb of Fresh Peanuts for $5
2 lbs of Fresh Peanuts for $8
Cash, Venmo, and Zelle will be accepted for payment.

If you are interested in fresh peanuts, please fill out the form PBGG GSA Peanut Sale. You can still stop by on Friday and purchase fresh peanuts if you do not fill out the form, if they are still available.

10/02/2026

https://bioengineer.org/two-resistance-alleles-one-locus-study-reveals-hidden-diversity-in-soybean-stem-canker-defense/

10/01/2026

🍂September was filled with many fun events organized by the PBGG Graduate Student Association!

Tifton students had a great time picking muscadines and would like to thank Dr. Patrick Conner for his support in the event!🌱

⚽️☄️It may not be Sanford stadium, but Athens students have brought their A-Game to each of their Sunday league soccer games, sponsored by the GSA!🏟️

🍷Tifton students organized their first ever GSA W**e Club at the Paulk Vineyard Tasting Room! Maybe they had some muscadine w**e from the ones they picked earlier in the month!

🍻🇩🇪Prost! Athens students celebrated Oktoberfest at the Athentic Brewery for their monthly GSA B**r Club!

Stay tuned for our October GSA events!

09/30/2026

🌱Next up in the Student Seminar Series is Trent! Trent’s presentation is entitled “Rethinking Chinese Privet: Reforming a Beloved Invasive“! Hope to see you there!

09/29/2026

🗳️🍉Your votes are in and the Symptoms, Signs, and Snapshots Photo Contest has concluded! Congratulations to Pallavi Rathore for taking the contest by a very narrow margin!

The fungus Anthracnose is responsible for significant yield and post-harvest losses, in addition to increasing management costs for watermelon growers. The McGregor lab is spearheading an effort to minimize the impact of this pathogen through plant breeding!

09/25/2026

https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/news/improving-tomato-flavor-genetic-research/?utm_source=CAES+Field+Report&utm_campaign=77a216791b-Newswire_Non_Media_Weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4cb3048305-77a216791b-35722701

University of Georgia researchers including Esther van der Knaap and her international colleagues trace the roots of tomato flavor loss to help restore rich taste to modern varieties.

09/23/2026

🌱🍅Next up in our Student Seminar Series is Swikriti! Her presentation is entitled “The Hairier, the Better: Utilizing Natural Insect Defenses in Tomato”! Hope to see you there!

09/21/2026

📸The three finalists for the IPBGG May-August 2026 Photo Contest have officially been selected! Please direct yourself to the poll on our LinkedIn page to cast your vote!🗳️

1. From Pallavi Rathore - One pathogen, two outcomes. A resistant watermelon genotype thrives while a susceptible cultivar declines from anthracnose.”

2. From Jake Spittle - “Soybean looper larvae on soybean leaf. Insect resistance screening for antixenosis.”

3. From Sindoora Nalajala - “Fighting root rot, growing happiness!”