Dr Louis K Prom, a Gambian-born US Scientist, is making significant strides in sorghum disease management and research. He serves as a Federal Government Scientist with the Agricultural Research Service under the US Department of Agriculture.
Dr Prom focuses on developing control strategies by identifying sources of resistance, pinpointing molecular markers, and creating diagnostic probes to minimise the impact of diseases affecting sorghum, which is the fifth most widely cultivated cereal globally.
His latest research involves utilising genome-wide association studies to identify chromosomal locations linked to various sorghum disease responses. Recently, Dr Prom conducted the first extensive assessment of sorghum diseases in Niger and Senegal, West Africa.
His high degree of creativity and original thinking have earned him recognition among fellow researchers and industry stakeholders.
Fondly called “Louie Atomic,” Dr Prom was born in Half Die, Banjul. He began his elementary education at St Joseph Primary School, St Augustine’s Primary School, and Pakalinding Primary School before completing his secondary education at Armitage High School.
After high school, he worked as a desk clerk at the public works department and later at BICI Bank until he received a scholarship to study at Walsh University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology.
He then obtained a Master of Science in Soil and Plant Science from Alabama A&M University, followed by a Doctorate in Plant Pathology from North Dakota State University (NDSU).
Throughout his career, Dr Prom has led several research teams, playing a key role in conceiving, planning, and conducting research. He has authored or co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals worldwide. In this edition, we spoke with Dr. Prom about his experiences as a scientist for the U.S. Federal Government and his innovations in sorghum disease research around the globe.
Why did you choose to pursue your doctorate at North Dakota State University?
I chose NDSU because it is the institution where the “gene-for-gene” concept was developed by H. H. Flor. This concept has been crucial for our understanding of the molecular interactions between hosts and pathogens, serving as the foundation for developing crop-resistant cultivars. After completing my doctorate, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at both NDSU in Fargo, North Dakota and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. During my post-doc at NDSU, I conducted research on fusarium head blight of wheat and barley at Zhejiang Agricultural University in Hangzhou and the Plant Protection Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences in the People’s Republic of China.
How did you end up as a scientist in the U.S. Federal Government?
In 1997, Dr Thomas Isakeit from Texas A&M University was the first to observe sorghum ergot in the US. This fungal disease raised significant concerns among sorghum researchers, seed industries, and farmers, as it had the potential to threaten the billion-dollar sorghum industry in the US.
Consequently, the USDA National Program Staff and others lobbied Congress to hire a scientist to focus exclusively on this disease. I was hired to investigate this pathosystem and coordinate researchers at various universities working on different aspects of the disease, including understanding how the pathogen survives across seasons in different sorghum-growing regions, developing inoculation techniques to identify resistant sources, and determining the efficacy of chemical treatments. Over the years, collaboration with USDA, academic researchers, and industry professionals has led to several peer-reviewed articles on ergot and other sorghum diseases.
What are some of your accomplishments in sorghum disease research?
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is the importance of collaborating with other scientists who possess diverse skills. My accomplishments include the development of a reliable and high-throughput inoculation technique for mass evaluation of anthracnose resistance in sorghum germplasm, which is now widely utilised by sorghum researchers in the US, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and several African countries. I also assessed the disease reaction of the SC748-5 x BTx623 population, which led to mapping the anthracnose-resistant gene Cg1 from the resistant source SC748-5. Additionally, I compiled a new set of sorghum differentials that are now used in many countries to identify the pathotypes of the anthracnose pathogen.
To follow Dr Prom, type his name Dr Louis K Prom on the website and get updates about his publications in Sorghum disease research and others.
