Teaching Interests
BSC 226/L Botany 
BSC 305 Evolution
BSC 400/500 History of Biology
BSC 431/531 Plant Physiology
BSC 429/L/529/L Comparative Morphology of Plants
BSC 864/L Electron Microscopy
Research Interests
My research interests are in developmental morphology
of fungi and plants. I have studied development of
fungal spores (ascospores), orchid scent glands (osmophores),
and fungal invasion of strawberry and blackberry.
Much of my research is at the ultrastructural level
using a transmission electron microscope and
occasionally involves techniques in cytochemistry,
immunocytochemistry, and morphometry. My research
frequently addresses problems in systematics.
Research in plant pathology has been in conjunction
with a local USDA research station (Poplarville, MS).
I have examined anthracnose of strawberry, a disease
caused by Colletotrichum spp., in which the
fungus invades host tissue with symptoms expressed as
tissue lesions and double blossom or rosette in
blackberry, a disease probably caused by Cercosporella
rubi in which the reproductive parts of the flower die
prematurely. My current research in plant
pathology addresses blueberry root rot caused by
Phytophthora cinnamomi. Problems
relating to mode and degree of infection and mechanisms
of resistance are of interest.
Theoretical aspects of evolution and biological
systematics are a focus of my research. I am especially
interested in the philosophical underpinnings of the
concept of species and philosophical considerations of
problems in evolutionary biology.
I am engaged in several collaborative projects that
involve transmission electron microscopy or light
microscopy. The most active in terms of funding is
a multidisciplinary effort in marine geology exploring
mechanisms for long-term preservation of organic carbon.
My contribution to this effort involves development of
techniques for visualizing patterns of enzymatic
digestion of organic carbon that might be protected by
clay microfabric at the micron and nanometer levels of
organization using transmission electron microscopy.
Recent other collaborations include an examination of
bacterial degradation of steel dock pilings, an
examination of fungal contamination in decking material,
and a study of the effect of Gingo biloba extract
on aging in roundworms.
Representative Publications
Curry, K.J.,
R.H. Bennett, L.M. Mayer, A. Curry, M. Abril, P.M.
Biesiot, and M.H. Hulbert. 2007. Direct
Visualization of Clay Microfabric Signatures Driving
Organic Matter Preservation in Fine-grained Sediment.
Geochimca et Cosmochimica Acta. 71:1709–1720.
Curry, K.J.,
and R.E. Baird, 2007. Ascomycota: The Filamentous
Fungi Forming Perithecia, Apothecia, and Ascostromata.
In Plant Pathology 2nd ed., R.
Trigiano, M.T. Windham, and A.S. Windham, eds., CRC
Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Melinda R.
Lyman, Kenneth J. Curry, Barbara J. Smith, and Susan V.
Diehl. 2004. Effect of Cercosporella rubi on
Blackberry Floral Bud Development. Plant Disease,
87:195–204.
Curry, K.J., M.
Abril, J.B. Avant, & B.J. Smith. 2002. Strawberry
Anthracnose: Histopathology of Colletotrichum acutatum
and C. fragariae. Phytopathology 92: 1055―1063.
Curry, K. J.,
L. M. McDowell, W. S. Judd, & W. L. Stern. 1991.
Osmophores, floral features, and systematics of
Stanhopea (Orchidaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 78: 610-623.
Kimbrough, J.
W., & K. J. Curry. 1986. Septal structures in apothecial
tissues of the tribe Aleuriae in the Pyrenomycetaceae (Pezizales,
Ascomycetes). Mycologia 78: 407-4
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