Dr. Chitwood-Brown's Laboratory 

Overview 

Dr. Chitwood-Brown's research focuses on combining the use of conventional and molecular plant breeding tools to develop improved fresh-market tomato hybrids and parents that require less input from growers, spanning from labor to pesticides.

To produce tomato crops with fewer inputs, varieties must possess: 

• Improved disease resistance
• Climate resilience
• Appropriate plant architecture
• Superior quality

This lab group addresses this challenge by emphasizing the genetic characterization of important traits and the utilization of molecular tools to select these traits more efficiently during the breeding process.

What we do

We collaborate closely with growers and industry leaders to identify key priorities, aligning the objectives of our breeding program to effectively address these needs. Our primary areas of focus encompass disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, and overall quality enhancement. Within each of these major focus areas, numerous smaller objectives are pursued to achieve comprehensive progress.

Currently, our lab comprises five graduate students, each undertaking projects within one of these three overarching categories:

Leo Gaspar, PhD – Investigating plant architecture and quality traits of compact growth habit tomatoes.

Samuel Ipinyomi, PhD – Focusing on fusarium wilt resistance.

Bihani Thapa, PhD – Researching heat and salt tolerance in tomatoes.

Mahbuba Fatema, PhD – Investigating bacterial spot resistance.

Shubham, MS – Utilizing multispectral imaging and machine learning techniques to study concentrated fruit set in compact growth habit tomatoes.


Through our collaborative efforts with the Florida tomato industry, the University of Florida, and other research partners specializing in pathology, entomology, phenomics, genomics, and postharvest techniques, we aim to advance the frontiers of tomato breeding and contribute to sustainable agriculture practices.

• MS Students' Work

  Links coming soon! 

• PhD Students' Work

  Links coming soon!

• Dr. Chitwood - Brown's Work
  • Extension Publications 
  • Research Publications