Carl Gunnar Fossdal
Head of Department/Head of Research
Biography
Research on: Epigenetics, Genomics, Plant-pathogen interactions, Phytobiome, Forest health, Wood decay, Fungal enzymes
EDUCATION:
1999 Dr.Scient (PhD) in Biotechnology, NMBU (NLH), Norway
1991 Cand. Scient. (Master) in Biotechnology, Univ. of Oslo
CURRENT AND PREVIOUS POSITIONS
2016-Present Head of Department Dept. Forest Health, Division for Biotechnology and Plant Health, NIBIO, Norway
2015-2016 Research Professor Molecular biology
Dept. Forest Health, Division for Biotechnology and Plant Health, NIBIO, Norway
2006-2015 Research Professor Molecular biology
Dept. Forest Health, Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute, Norway
2001-2006 Research Scientist Molecular Biology Dept . Forest Genetics, Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute (Skogforsk. NISK), Norway
2000 Researcher (3 months) Molecular Biology Biological Institute, University of Tromsø (UiT), Norway
MOBILITY:
2003 Forest Biotechnology Laboratory, Forest Sciences Centre, the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada . Travel grant from Skogforsk, Norway.
COMMISSIONS OF TRUST:
2015-present Vice President of The Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society (SPPS)
2016-present Leader Group Member. The Norwegian Plant Network
2016-present Representative EPSO for member institution NIBIO, Norway
TRACK RECORD: 61+ publications in international peer reviewed journals
https://scholar.google.no/citations?hl=no&pli=1&user=BkzOk4gAAAAJ
Scientific/project administration:
2017-2021 PI for Phytobiome SIS at NIBIO, The Research Council of Norway (NFR) funded
2015-2018 PI for the NIBIO part of NMBU. FRIPRO project Epiclimate. NFR.
2010-2016 PI for Norwegian part of the large scale FP7 EU project ProCoGen # 289841
2010-2014 PI for the NFLI part of UMB. FRIBIO project MolMem # 191455. NFR.
2012-2015 Project leader (PI) for 2 NFLI GB projects
2002-2011 Project leader for in house Fungal and forest tree EST Database project at the Norwegian Forest Research Institute, Norway
2007 Project leader NFR project FORNY (Kommersialisering av FOU) Custom made Real- Time PCR assays for detection of fungi in building materials. #179848
2006-2007 Project leader (PI) NFR funded BILAT project to establish
Journal Reviews:
https://publons.com/author/789125/carl-gunnar-fossdal#profile
Authors
Theresa Weigl Jorunn Børve Emily Follett Ingunn Øvsthus Carl Gunnar Fossdal Hanne Larsen Siv Fagertun RembergAbstract
The mid-early-ripening cultivar ‘Summerred’ is popular among consumers and widely grown in Norway. However, ‘Summerred’ fruit is prone to rapid softening and development of senescence-related disorders, especially senescent breakdown. Calcium can have a significant role in maintaining firmness and delaying senescence of fruits. In a two-year study, foliar application of calcium chloride (CaCl2) was conducted six times, with varying weather conditions between the growing seasons. Fruit was harvested at optimal commercial maturity and stored at 4°C for either 6 or 9 weeks, followed by simulated shelf-life conditions at 20°C. Ethylene levels were monitored during storage to detect ripening discrepancies. At harvest, CaCl2-treated fruit exhibited significantly lower ethylene production compared to untreated fruit, although no differences were observed at the end of the storage period. Senescent breakdown showed significant variability between the two seasons, with an incidence of up to 15% in the first season and nearly no incidence in the second. Senescent breakdown increased with storage duration but was unaffected by foliar CaCl2 application. Real-time PCR analysis of fruit flesh samples revealed increased expression of polygalacturonase and β-galactosidases genes after storage, indicating their involvement in apple softening. Notably, there were no differences in gene expression between CaCl2-treated and untreated fruit after storage. Expression patterns of genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis at harvest were different between the two seasons. Higher expression was observed in the year with greater disorder development, indicating greater maturity at harvest. There were no significant differences in the Streif index between the two years.
Authors
Theresa Weigl Jorunn Børve Melissa Magerøy Hanne Larsen Carl Gunnar Fossdal Siv Fagertun RembergAbstract
The physiological disorder soft scald may cause losses in apple fruit storage. This study aimed at understanding the interplay between fruit maturity at harvest and storage temperature on soft scald development in the susceptible cultivar ‘Red Aroma’. Fruit harvested late and subsequently stored at −0.5 °C developed the significantly highest soft scald incidence. Overall ethylene and CO2-production was reduced in late harvested fruit stored at −0.5 °C, while fruit from the early harvest showed a cold-induced ethylene increase under the same storage conditions, suggesting an active cold-acclimation response. Clustering of RNA sequencing data and overrepresentation analysis revealed that transcripts involved in cell wall modification, ripening-associated signaling, antioxidant defense system and secondary metabolism were upregulated in late harvested fruit at harvest as well as soft scald-affected fruit after storage. In contrast, early harvested fruit at harvest and disorder-free fruit after storage showed higher expression of transcripts associated with abiotic stress resistance, such as leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases, protein kinases with tetratricopeptide repeat domains, and auxin response factor, indicating a potential link between early maturity and enhanced cold tolerance in ‘Red Aroma’ apple fruit.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered