Research
Prof Neal (NW) McLaren
Position	Professor
Department	Plant Sciences
Address	Plant Sciences IB 64
Email
Telephone	+27-(0)51-4013666
Office	6 300

Short CV

Neal Wynne McLaren was born in Walvis bay (Namibia) on 26 December 1953. He matriculated at Kearsney College in 1971. He obtained a BSc (Botany and Plant Pathology) at University of Natal (Pietermarizburg) in 1976. In 1977 he was appointed as a Research Technician at the former Department of Agricultural Technical Services and in 1980 was seconded to University of Natal for the degree BSc (Hon: Plant Pathology). As a Professional Officer he graduated with a MSc (Agric: Plant Pathology) at the University of Natal in 1987 and in 1993 with a PhD: Plant Pathology from University of Pretoria. In 1995 he was promoted to Specialist Scientist in the Agricultural Research Council and as Associate Professor Extraordinary at University of the Free State in 2003. In 2005 he was appointed at the University of the Free State as Professor of Plant Pathology. Neal had published 32 papers in scientific journals or refereed proceedings which include two feature articles. He also has three book chapters to his credit. He has presented 35 local and 18 international conference papers and been an invited/keynote speaker on a number of occasions. As part of technology transfer, he has published 26 popular articles. He has co-supervised 5 post-graduate students and been examiner on a number of dissertations/theses. He has acted as referee for numerous journal articles and was associate editor for African Plant Protection

Area of Expertise

Most interest has been in diseases of sorghum with emphasis on ergot, damping-off and seedling blights, root rots and grain molds. In addition, root rots of maize and more recently, soybean rust have received attention. He has a particular interest in quantitative epidemiology and a general philosophy which is to look beyond the pathogen to the interactions of the various components of the agro-ecosystem on disease epidemiology and to develop disease management strategies. This approach was particularly successful with sorghum ergot and he developed a weather based model to predict ergot severity and to quantify the risk of disease associated with specific flowering dates based on historic data. This model has been tested successfully internationally. No physiological resistance to ergot has been reported. He however, quantified the relationship between pollen viability and disease severity and the role of pre-flowering cold stress in reducing viability. Selection and breeding for pre-flowering cold stress tolerance has resulted in high levels of pollen mediated escape resistance which has eliminated the disease as a local production constraint. This systems/holistic approach is being applied to other diseases under consideration.

Courses Presented

PPG324 (Systems analysis)

PPG424 (Plant Disease Epidemiology)

Publications (Short List)

BANDYOPADHYAY, R., FEDERICKSON, D.E., McLAREN, N.W., ODVODY, G.N. & RYLEY, M.R. (1998). Ergot - a new disease threat to sorghum in the Americas and Australia. Plant Disease 82:356-367.

FLETT, B.C. & McLAREN, N.W. (1998) Incidence of ear rot pathogens under alternating maize tillage systems. 82: 781-784.

FLETT, B.C., McLAREN, N.W. & WEHNER, F.C. (2001) Incidence of Stenocarpella maydis ear rot of corn under crop rotation systems. Plant Disease 85: 92-94.

MANTLE, P. E., HASSAN, H.A.-G., & McLAREN, N.W. 1999. Putative control of ergot disease epidemics in hybrid sorghum production through the inhibition of secondary sporulation by Claviceps africana. Proceedings of the Global Conference on Ergot of Sorghum (Dahlberg, J.A. & Casela, C.R. Eds.)

McLAREN, N.W. (1998) Breeding for ergot resistance in South Africa. Proceedings for 1998 Conference on the Status of Sorghum Ergot in North America. June 24-26, 1998, Corpus Christi, Texas. Http://www.ars-grin /may/confernc/toc.htm

McLAREN, N.W. (1998) Ergot risk analysis. Proceedings for 1998 Conference on the Status of Sorghum Ergot in North America. June 24-26, 1998, Corpus Christi, Texas Http://www.ars-grin /may/confernc/toc.htm

McLAREN, N.W. (1999) Host x Pathogen x Environment Interaction sorghum ergot disease. Proceedings of the Global Conference on Ergot of Sorghum. (Dahlberg, J.A. & Casela, C.R. Eds.)

McLAREN, N.W. (2000) Resistance of sorghum hybrids to ergot caused by Claviceps africana. S.Afr. J. Plant Soil 17: 1-5.

McLAREN, N.W. (2002) Evaluation of sorghum hybrids for resistance to the root rot complex. S. Afr. J Plant Soil 19: 37-42.

McLAREN, N.W. (2003) Efficacy of fungicides in the control of ergot in hybrid seed production, caused by Claviceps africana. S. Afr. J. Plant Soil 20: 154-156.

McLAREN, N.W. (2004) Effect of soil nutrient status on severity of seedling diseases and root rot of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). S. Afr. J. Plant Soil 21: 263-265.

McLAREN, N.W. & FLETT, B.C. (1998 ) Use of weather variables to quantify sorghum ergot potential in South Africa. Plant Disease 82:26-29.

NOWELL, D.C & McLAREN, N.W. 1999. Experiences with ergot of sorghum in Southern Africa. Proceedings of the Global Conference on Ergot of Sorghum. (Dahlberg, J.A. & Casela, C.R. Eds.)

REED,J.D., TUINSTRA, M.R. McLAREN, N.W., KOFOID, K.D. OCHANDA, N.W. & CLAFLIN, L.E. (2002) Analysis of combining ability for ergot resistance in grain sorghum. Crop Sci. 42: 1818-1823.

TAREKEGN, G., McLAREN, N.W. & SWART, W.J. (2004) Relationship between grain development stages and sorghum cultivar susceptibility to grain mould. African Plant Protection (in print).
Book Chapters

McLAREN, N.W, Saayman, J., Benade, J. and van der Walt, M. (2002) Evaluation of reduced sorghum seed germination. In Leslie, J.F. (Ed) 2002. Sorghum and Millets Pathology 2000. Iowa State Press, Ames, Iowa.

McLAREN, N.W. (2002) Genotype x environment effects on the response of sorghum to ergot and repercussions for diseases-screening. In Leslie, J.F. (Ed) 2002. Sorghum and Millets Pathology 2000. Iowa State Press, Ames, Iowa.

MTISI, E. & McLAREN, N.W. (2002) Diseases of sorghum and pearl millet in some Southern African countries. In Leslie, J.F. (Ed) 2002. Sorghum and Millets pathology 2000. Iowa State Press, Ames, Iowa.