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, double blossom or rosette in blackberry, a disease probably caused by Cercosporella rubi in which the reproductive parts of the flower die prematurely, and blueberry root rot caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi.

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, examinations of fungal contamination in decking and cabinet materials, and a study of the effect of Gingo biloba extract on aging in roundworms.

Current Graduate Students

Representative Publications

Abril, M., K.J. Curry, B.J. Smith, and D.E. Wedge. 2008. Improved microassays used to test natural-product based and conventional fungicides on plant pathogenic fungi. Plant Disease 92: 106–112.

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: 407-417.