Soon Li Teh

Assistant Professor

Grape Breeding & Enology

[email protected]

424 Alderman Hall

1970 Folwell Ave
St. Paul , MN 55108
United States

Grape Breeding & Enology

Education

Ph.D. University of Minnesota, Applied Plant Sciences 2018
B.Sc. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Agronomy and Biochemistry

Areas of Interest

Grape breeding, quantitative genetics, wine biochemistry, disease resistance, pest resistance

Biography

Soon Li Teh began his appointment as an Assistant Professor in October 2023. He received his B.Sc. In Agronomy and Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2018, he completed his PhD in Plant Breeding and Molecular Genetics at the University of Minnesota. His work integrated genomics and metabolomics in characterizing genetic and biochemical resistance to grape powdery mildew. After graduation, he joined Washington State University as a postdoctoral researcher, and subsequently, as a research assistant professor. Over the past five years, he led the WSU pear rootstock breeding program to breed size-controlling Pyrus rootstocks. In his current role, Dr. Teh will focus on developing high quality cold-hardy wine and table grapes to benefit growers in Minnesota and the broader cold-climate regions.

Teaching

HORT 1031: Vines and Wines (Fall semester)

Research

My research program focuses on integrating conventional and molecular plant breeding approaches to develop improved wine and table grape cultivars for cold climate production. Breeding targets include cold hardiness, resistance to various diseases and pests, as well as desirable fruit quality/biochemistry. My research aims to characterize genetic determinants of these breeding targets for development of diagnostic DNA markers to guide breeding decisions.

Outreach

Coordinated Extension activities with Madeline Wimmer (Extension educator) and Andrew Horton (enology specialist) to benefit grape growers, winemakers and producers in Minnesota. Activities include workshops, training, conferences, and educational programs.

Select Publications

Teh SL, York Z, Evans K (2023). Genetic mapping and haploblock characterization of two novel major dwarfing loci in reciprocal Pyrus rootstock seedling families. Fruit Research, 3:20

Teh SL, Kostick S, Brutcher L, Schonberg B, Barritt B, Evans K (2021) Trends in fruit quality improvement from 15 years of selection in WSU’s apple breeding program. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12:714325

Kostick SA, Teh SL, Norelli JL, Vanderzande S, Peace C, Evans KM (2021) Fire blight QTL analysis in a multi-family apple population identifies a reduced-susceptibility allele in ‘Honeycrisp. Horticulture Research, 8:28

Teh SL, Brutcher L, Schonberg B, Evans K (2020) Eleven-year correlation of physical fruit texture traits between computerized penetrometers and sensory assessment in an apple breeding. HortTechnology, 30:6

Teh SL, Coggins JL, Kostick SA, Evans KM (2020). Location, year, and tree age impact NIR-based postharvest prediction of dry matter concentration for 58 apple accessions. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 166:111125

Teh SL, Rostandy B, Awale M, Luby JJ, Fennell A, Hegeman AD (2019). Genetic analysis of stilbenoid profiles in grapevine stems reveals a major mQTL hotspot on chromosome 18 associated with disease resistance motifs. Horticulture Research, 6:121