By Whitney Baxter
José González-Acuña knows the value of networking. Connections established while living and working in Costa Rica brought him to Iowa State University, where he’s collaborating on projects to develop new plant disease management tools and support effective fungicide use.
“I wouldn’t be able to do anything I’ve done without the network of people I’ve built these last five years,” González-Acuña, a plant pathology doctoral student and research technician, says. “All these people have played a role in helping me get where I am today.”
Those include Mark Gleason, professor emeritus of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology (PPEM), who hired González-Acuña as a lab coordinator. Deciding to pursue graduate studies in plant pathology, he then worked with Gleason to research sooty blotch and flyspeck, fungal diseases that grow on apples’ waxy layer. González-Acuña developed field trials to assess a warning system so farmers know when to spray for SBFS based on recent weather conditions.
After working in Gleason’s lab, González-Acuña joined the lab of PPEM Professor and ISU Extension and Outreach plant pathologist Daren Mueller. González-Acuña is studying weather conditions that cause frogeye leaf spot (FLS), a common fungal disease in soybeans.
Using environmental variables and historical disease ratings, González-Acuña and Richard Webster, soybean pathology specialist at North Dakota State University, developed a predictive model for FLS. Based on their findings, high temperatures and relative humidity were identified as main drivers of the disease.
In 2023, González-Acuña and lab mates worked with researchers at 10 locations in eight states, then 20 sites in 13 states in 2024, to validate the predictive model and evaluate the use of model-based disease risk thresholds to time fungicide sprays.
The project resulted in a Crop Disease Forecasting tool, available on the Crop Protection Network website, that alerts farmers when spraying is needed.
“We want to be smarter with fungicide use,” González-Acuña says. “The more you expose fungi to fungicides, the more likely they are to become resistant. If we can get away from the traditional calendar-based spray schedule, it will save farmers time, money and reduce fungicide use.”
Mueller says González-Acuña’s work on predictive modeling is at the forefront of disease management innovation.
“By integrating data-driven models, his research aims to optimize fungicide applications - balancing effective disease control with resistance stewardship to sustain yields and long-term profitability,” Mueller says.
González-Acuña plans to return to Costa Rica after completing his doctoral degree to work on integrated disease management.