Horticultural Sciences

Dr. Kevin M. Folta

Professor

Mailing Address:
Fifield Hall
2550 Hull Road
PO Box 110690
Gainesville, Florida 32611

Office: 2239 Fifield Hall
Phone: (352) 273-4350
E-mail: kfolta@ufl.edu

Areas of Research
- Functional genomics of small fruit crops
- Photomorphogenesis and controlled environments
- Genetic basis of flavors
- Science communication and outreach
- Small Molecule Discovery - Antibiotics and Plant Growth Regulators

Teaching Responsibilities
- FRC1010- Fruit for Fun and Profit
- PCB6528- Plant Cell and Developmental Biology

Educational Background
- Ph.D. – 1998; Molecular Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago
- M.S. – 1992; Biology, Northern Illinois University
- B.S. – 1989; Biology, Northern Illinois University

Work Experience
- December 2012- Present: Department Chair, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
- May 2012- May 2017: Visiting Scientist, Shanghai Academy for Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai China
- July 2011 – December 2012: Graduate Coordinator, Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
- July 2008- present: Associate Professor, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
- November 2002-June 2008: Assistant Professor, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
- March 2000- November 2002: Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Honors and Awards
- University of Florida Postdoctoral Mentoring Award
- University of Florida Foundation Research Professor, 2010
- Northern Illinois University LA&S Golden Alumni Award (top 50 distinguished graduates) 2009
- NSF CAREER Award, 2008
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Distinguished Mentor of Undergraduate Research, 2007

Program Personnel
- Postdoctoral Research Associates
  - Dr. Sofia Carvalho
  - Dr. Kevin O’Grady
  - Dr. Raquel Fonseca Carvalho
- Senior Biological Scientist
  - Maureen Clancy
- Graduate Students
  - Christopher Barbey
  - Fadhli Mad Atari

Selected Publications

Authors	Year	Title / Description	Publication
Carvalho, S.D. Folta, K.M.	2014	Sequential light programs to affect kale sprout appearance and nutrition.	Horticultural Research 1: 8.
Carvalho, S.D., Folta, K.M.	2014	Environmentally-modified organisms: Expanding plant genetic potential with light.	Critical Reviews in Plant Science. 33:486-508.
Chambers, A.H., Plotto, A., Bai, J., Whitaker, V.M.,Folta, K.M.	2014	Identification of a strawberry flavor gene using an integrated genetic-genomic-analytical chemistry approach.	BMC Genomics 15: 217.
Zhang, Q., Folta, K.M., Davis, T.M.	2014	Somatic embryogenesis, tetraploidy, and variant leaf morphology in transgenic diploid strawberry (Fragaria vesca subspecies vesca ‘Hawaii 4’).	BMC Plant Science 14: 14-232.
Chambers, A.H., Evans, S.A., Folta, K.M.	2014	Methyl anthranilate and γ-decalactone inhibit strawberry pathogen growth and achene germination.	Journal of Agricultural and Food Science 61: 12625-12633.
Wang, Y., Folta, K.M.	2013	Contributions of green light to plant growth and development.	Am. J. Bot. 100: 70-78.
Chambers, A., Carle, S., Njuguna, W., Chamala, S., Bassil, N., Whitaker, V., Barbazuk, W.B., Folta, K.M.	2013	A genome-enabled, high-throughput, and multiplexed fingerprinting platform for strawberry (Fragaria L.).	Molecular Breeding : 1-15.
Wang, Y., Maruhnich, S.A., Mageroy, M.H., Justice, J.R., Folta, K.M.	2013	Phototropin 1 and cryptochrome action in response to green light in combination with other wavelengths.	237:225-237.
Folta, K.M.	2012	Functionalizing the Strawberry Genome.	Int'l J. Fruit Science 13: 162-174.
Chambers, A., Whitaker, V.M., Gibbs, B., Plotto, A., Folta, K.M.	2012	Detection of the linalool-producing NES1 variant across diverse strawberry (Fragaria spp.) accessions.	Plant Breeding 131, 437-443.