Ioannis Tzanetakis, professor of plant virology and director of the Arkansas Clean Plant Center, was recently named a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society.

Tzanetakis has a dual appointment in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station — the research arm of the U of A System Division of Agriculture — and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the U of A.

​​The honor of Fellow is bestowed by the APS in recognition of distinguished contributions to the profession of plant pathology. The number of Fellows awarded is limited to 0.25% of the total membership of the society. Nine people were named as Fellows of the APS this year. Awardees will be recognized and celebrated at Plant Health 2025 in Honolulu on Aug. 2-5.

Tzanetakis has been a member of the American Phytopathological Society since 2001.

"I didn't expect this," Tzanetakis said of the Fellowship. "I am honored and humbled. Usually these are awarded later in someone's career, but I still have a lot of work to do."

Ken Korth, head of the Entomology and Plant Pathology Department, said Tzanetakis has been a leader, mentor and valued researcher who has identified major viruses, defined virus complexes and improved vector management.

"This is a tremendous and well-deserved honor for Dr. Tzanetakis," he said. "He is exactly the type of scientist and professional worthy of being named APS Fellow because of his many contributions to our discipline. His efforts have brought visibility and prestige to the Bumpers College and Division of Agriculture."

One example of those contributions to plant pathology was in 2014, when Tzanetakis co-developed Virfind with Thien Ho, a postdoctoral researcher in the virology group. Virfind is a widely used online bioinformatics pipeline for detecting known and discovering novel viruses. 

Over a six-year period beginning in 2018, Tzanetakis initiated and shepherded an international project of over 185 scientists and 40 countries to identify and remove many "phantom agents" from certification lists. The effort was done to improve agricultural efficiency and food security by updating regulations on international shipment of pathogen-free plant materials destined for countries where they are needed.

Tzanetakis also led a project in 2023 with Shivani Singh, program associate at the Arkansas Clean Plant Center, to develop a virus-mimicking artificial positive control that speeds up the process, lowers the cost and improves the accuracy of detecting plant pathogens. A positive control is a specimen known to contain the pathogen in question. Acquiring positive controls can be problematic, especially for pathogen detected in other continents and their maintenance is expensive, and without them, a test cannot be validated.

International impact

Tzanetakis has been active on the international level in other ways, including being the lead plant virologist on the $200 million project called the Clean Plant Program of India. The nation, which overtook China as the world's most populous country in 2023, is also the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. But India's lack of disease-free propagation material limits its yield potential, Tzanetakis said.

As director of the Arkansas Clean Plant Center, Tzanetakis leads a widely recognized program focused on viral diseases of berry crops. The Arkansas Clean Plant Center is one of four regional centers in the National Clean Plant Network. Impacts of the Clean Plant Center's program range from discovery of new virus species to understanding how pathogen complexes are spread. The center's work helps develop new pest management practices and tools to serve growers and the scientific community.

Plant diseases are caused by living pathogens such as fungi, bacteria, viruses and parasitic plants, as well as nonliving agents such as air pollutants, nutrient imbalances and various environmental factors. 

New diseases and changes in existing pathogens remain a constant threat to forests, food and fiber crops and landscape plants. Development of new and innovative ways to control plant diseases is a constant challenge for plant pathologists. 

Service and leadership

Tzanetakis, a native of Athens, Greece, joined the U of A System in 2008 as an assistant professor after earning his doctorate in molecular and cellular biology at Oregon State University. He served in the Greek Navy before returning to Oregon to conduct his postdoctoral studies. One of the nominations for Tzanetakis to be named an APS Fellow came from Bob Martin, his Ph.D. adviser at Oregon State.

Over the past 17 years with the U of A System, Tzanetakis has provided leadership and service in numerous ways, including his chairing of the departmental Graduate Student Admissions, and Promotion and Tenure committees. He also serves on multiple college committees and was elected by his peers as chair of the Faculty Council. He was elected to the University Faculty Senate and Graduate Council and served on multiple university committees, including Research Council, Peer Mentoring, and Cultural Competence Leadership. He served on search committees for both the dean and the vice president for agriculture. Additionally, Tzanetakis chaired and participated in committees reviewing multiple academic institutions in Greece.

Tzanetakis also serves on multiple study groups of the International Committee for the Taxonomy of Viruses, has been senior editor for Plant Disease, associate editor for Phytopathology and has been a member of six subject matter committees, chairing two. In addition, he has served on the editorial boards of five other journals and reviewed manuscripts for more than 60 others.

"In addition to his national and global achievements, Dr. Tzanetakis has been a leader in our institution and a wonderful mentor to young scientists," Korth added.

Tzanetakis has mentored 11 graduate students and 17 post-docs. He has received many awards and recognition for his achievements, including the AAAS/Science Program for Excellence in Science in 2006, the APS's Schroth Faces of the Future in 2010, the USDA Safeguarding Award in 2013, the APS Lee M. Hutchins Award in 2015, the U of A Outstanding Faculty Award in 2020 and the John W. White Research Award, a top honor in the U of A System Division of Agriculture, in 2022.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

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About the Division of Agriculture: The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation's historic land grant education system. The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three system campuses. Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.