About

Irwin Goldman was hired in 1992 to conduct research and instruction in plant breeding, plant genetics, and horticulture. His research focuses on vegetable breeding and genetics, with an emphasis on plant secondary metabolites that have potential value for human health and wellbeing. He has bred numerous cultivars and inbred lines used to produce commercial hybrids grown by farmers worldwide. A portion of his germplasm is licensed through WARF, generating royalties for his program, with over 75 active germplasm licenses. In addition to his research, Goldman has served in various administrative roles within the College of Agricultural & Life Sciences, including Executive Associate Dean, Associate Dean for Research, Vice Dean, and Interim Dean. He also served as the Horticulture Department Chair from 2011 to 2018. Despite his administrative responsibilities, he values working closely with students, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in their research, and serving as an advisor to undergraduate Horticulture majors. Goldman teaches multiple courses annually, including courses in horticulture and biocore, and has been involved in research and teaching since his arrival at the university.

Research topics

• Biology
• Computer Science
• Agronomy
• Horticulture
• Biotechnology
• Botany
• Genetics
• Ecology

Selected publications

• Remain thou as thou art: The bargain of vegetabling

  Crop Science · 2026-03-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Vegetabling resulted in the development of a unique food source comprised of highly immature plant organs that delivers desirable textures, flavors, and nutritional diversity to human diets. In contrast to some dry‐seeded crops, perishable vegetables require enormous inputs of energy and technology during the postharvest period to preserve their quality. A vast cold chain to preserve fresh produce and myriad technologies designed to dry, salt, freeze‐dry, can, pickle, freeze, juice, and irradiate vegetables consumes enormous financial and human resources that must be deployed quickly before vegetables rot. This gave us purpose. But despite our efforts, estimates indicate up to 45% of vegetables are wasted due to spoilage. While perhaps unanticipated during domestication efforts, the consequences of vegetabling have resulted in far‐reaching technological, energetic, and societal complexities that extend to the ability to control microbial growth, significantly reduce water activity in moisture‐filled plant tissues, and stop time by producing a shelf‐stable vegetable product that can last for years. Successfully processing perishable plant products represents a triumphal consequence of the vegetabling project for at least two primary reasons: a dramatic increase in both food security and economic value. Yet vegetabling can only continue as long as humans are willing to consistently provide efforts to preserve vegetable tissues, a situation that is not required for dry‐seeded crops. By creating them, humans have entered into a bargain with vegetables that is Sisyphean in nature. Vegetables without us would revert to non‐perishable, mature plant organs and limit our dietary diversity; vegetables with us require Herculean efforts at preservation, providing us with purpose, but not allowing us to rest.

  PublisherDOI

• Phenotypic, genetic, and population structure analysis offer insights into the genetic architecture of root shape in <i>Beta vulgaris</i>

  Horticulture Research · 2025-07-31 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Root shape is a defining feature of marketability and breeding strategies in the Beta vulgaris crop complex encompassing sugar beet, fodder beet, table beet, and Swiss chard. This study leverages the Wisconsin Beta Diversity Panel of 234 accessions to understand the genetic architecture underlying root shape traits, utilizing field trials, genome-wide association, and population structure analyses. High heritability estimates for many root shape traits (H2 &amp;gt; 0.9) suggest genetic control as the primary determinant of root shape with minimal genotype-by-environment interactions across locations and years. Digital biomass was not correlated with length-width ratio, a key shape descriptor. Key quantitative trait loci (QTL) on Chromosomes 4, 7, and 8 associated with traits such as length, width, and length-to-width ratio, collectively explained up to 55% of phenotypic variance. Several loci co-localize with predicted gene families known to influence organ shape in other plant species. Candidate genes near shape QTL were significantly enriched for microtubule organization and auxin response. Genomic estimated breeding values for shape traits showed high predictive accuracy, particularly for length-to-width ratio. Admixture analyses revealed eight genetic populations, suggesting distinct domestication and breeding histories of crop types in the complex. Swiss chard and wild germplasm showed unique ancestry, while sugar and fodder beet shared genetic proximity. Our analysis identifies candidate loci and molecular markers for root shape, providing resources for molecular breeding strategies in B. vulgaris. The findings add to and clarify the current knowledge on root shape inheritance, advancing the genetic improvement of these crops of economic, nutritional, and cultural significance.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• To vegetable: Seasons that require us

  Crop Science · 2025-03-01 · 4 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Domestication of cereals tracks with the natural life cycle of plants in the Poaceae family, but vegetables represent a different modality and often possess a truncated life cycle. The evolution of vegetable biodiversity required curatorial work each growing season that differed in important ways from curation of grains or perennial crops. Separate curation of short‐lived vegetable plants may have provided expanded labor niches and nutritional diversity in newly settled agricultural communities. The word vegetable is a noun, but is also a verb. To vegetable is a specialized activity in agriculture that involves the modification of plants for the harvest of immature organs for food and the saving of propagules for curation and maintenance. Vegetabling has resulted in plants with truncated harvest schedules and high perishability whose longevity is prolonged by an extensive cold chain network and postharvest manipulation, requiring additional human effort and technology.

  PublisherDOI

• Variation for QTL alleles associated with total dissolved solids among crop types in a GWAS of a <i>Beta vulgaris</i> diversity panel

  The Plant Genome · 2025-03-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Sweetness is a main component of the table beet (Beta vulgaris L.) flavor profile and a key determinant of its market success for fresh consumption. Total dissolved solids (TDS) is a proxy for sugar content in produce and are easily measured through a refractometer, making TDS valuable in breeding programs focused on increasing sweetness. A diversity panel of 238 accessions from the Beta vulgaris crop complex and wild relatives was assembled and genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing, yielding 10,237 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 226 full panel accessions and 9,847 SNPs from table beet only accessions after filtering. The panel was phenotyped in field trials over 2 years and mean values were adjusted using best linear unbiased estimates. TDS levels varied among crop types and a broad-sense heritability of 0.90 indicated that phenotypic differences can be attributed in large part to genetic variation. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) uncovered four quantitative trait loci (QTLs) identified across multiple models to significantly associate with TDS. A QTL on chromosome 2 was consistently identified among GWAS models, explaining 12.1%-62.6% of the phenotypic variation in the full panel. Bevul.2G176300, a gene directly involved in the sucrose biosynthesis pathway, was located downstream the significant marker. A second QTL identified on chromosome 7 revealed QTL alleles that may differentiate between table beet accessions, explaining nearly half the phenotypic variation, and is the first QTL reported in association with TDS unique to table beet. The QTL described can be used to efficiently breed for higher TDS levels in Beta vulgaris, avoiding intercrop type crosses and linkage drag.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Phenomics to Improve Genebank Value and Utility

  2025-01-01

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Chromosome 1 QTLs associated with response to bacterial leaf spot in <i>Beta vulgaris</i>

  Crop Science · 2025-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Bacterial leaf spot (BLS), caused by Pseudomonas syringae pathovar aptata ( Psa ), is a seedborne, foliar disease affecting members of the Amaranthaceae and Cucurbitaceae families, including table beet and Swiss chard crops. There is no known resistance to BLS in beet or chard. A diversity panel, modified from the Wisconsin Beta Diversity Panel (WBDP) and comprised of 219 accessions from the Beta vulgaris crop complex, was assembled and genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphism data. These accessions were screened by foliar inoculation of Psa and visually evaluated for percentage of diseased leaf tissue. Overall, sugar beet and Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima accessions had the lowest BLS response, whereas table beet accessions had the largest range of responses. Phenotypic means were adjusted using best linear unbiased estimates, and two different software programs, GWASpoly and GAPIT3, were utilized to conduct a genome‐wide association study (GWAS). Leaf color was found to be significantly associated with and correlated with BLS response scores, and was used as a covariate in GWAS analysis. An association with BLS response was detected on chromosome 1 in the full WBDP, explaining upward of 21% of the variation in the phenotype. The marker associated with this quantitative trait locus (QTL), Chr1_61344476, showed an additive relationship between dosage and BLS response. Eleven candidate genes, described and annotated in sugar beet, were associated with this QTL. Some of these include F Box domains, RNA‐binding proteins, and calcium‐dependent kinases, all of which have roles in plant defense responses. Marker Chr1_61344476 may be useful in breeding for BLS resistance in members of the Beta vulgaris crop complex.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• QTL mapping utilizing F_2:3 linkage mapping populations reveals regions of chromosomes 2 and 6 are significantly associated with root width in carrot

  Acta Horticulturae · 2024-04-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  ISHS III International Symposium on Carrot and Other Apiaceae QTL mapping utilizing F2:3 linkage mapping populations reveals regions of chromosomes 2 and 6 are significantly associated with root width in carrot

  PublisherDOI

• Linkage mapping of root shape traits in two carrot populations

  G3 Genes Genomes Genetics · 2024-02-27 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This study investigated the genetic basis of carrot root shape traits using composite interval mapping in two biparental populations (n = 119 and n = 128). The roots of carrot F2:3 progenies were grown over 2 years and analyzed using a digital imaging pipeline to extract root phenotypes that compose market class. Broad-sense heritability on an entry-mean basis ranged from 0.46 to 0.80 for root traits. Reproducible quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified on chromosomes 2 and 6 on both populations. Colocalization of QTLs for phenotypically correlated root traits was also observed and coincided with previously identified QTLs in published association and linkage mapping studies. Individual QTLs explained between 14 and 27% of total phenotypic variance across traits, while four QTLs for length-to-width ratio collectively accounted for up to 73% of variation. Predicted genes associated with the OFP-TRM (OVATE Family Proteins-TONNEAU1 Recruiting Motif) and IQD (IQ67 domain) pathway were identified within QTL support intervals. This observation raises the possibility of extending the current regulon model of fruit shape to include carrot storage roots. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanisms through which this pathway operates in roots characterized by secondary growth originating from cambium layers remain unknown.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Exploring modification of centromeric histone H3 (<i>CENH3</i>) as a strategy for haploid induction in carrot (<i>Daucus carota</i>)

  Acta Horticulturae · 2024-04-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Genetic architecture of Cercospora leaf spot response in table beet with implications for other <i>Beta vulgaris</i> crop types

  Crop Science · 2024-10-18 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Table beet ( Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris ) production is threatened by the fungal disease Cercospora leaf spot (CLS). Infections are common across table beet's closest relatives, including Swiss chard, sugar beet, and fodder beet (all B. v . subsp. vulgaris ). This study was conducted to characterize the genetic architecture underlying CLS response in table beet. A secondary objective was to test whether CLS‐associated loci in table beet perform similarly across B. vulgaris crops. A diversity panel comprised of 168 table beet accessions and with an additional 70 accessions from all close relatives of table beet was screened for CLS response in replicated and inoculated field trials. Results from a genome‐wide association study of additive effects revealed seven quantitative trait loci mapped to chromosomes 1, 3, 7, and 9 to explain 30% of the phenotypic variation for CLS response in table beet. When the performance of these loci was compared between a table beet background and a background of Swiss chard, sugar beet, and fodder beet, two loci exhibited significantly different responses. Among the B. vulgaris crops, these loci may be unique to table beet germplasm and could be useful for the improvement of CLS resistance in other crop types. For the improvement of CLS resistance in table beet, this study identified the cultivar Winter Keeper as a potentially valuable source of resistance. The architecture of CLS response points to recurrent selection and backcross methods as effective strategies for the improvement of CLS resistance in table beet.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Philipp W. Simon

  16 shared

• Jan E.P. Debaene

  13 shared

• Claire H. Luby

  David H. Murdock Research Institute

  13 shared

• Geoffrey Schroeck

  Chung-Ang University

  12 shared

• N. Breitback

  Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales Agrícolas y Pecuarias

  12 shared

• Min Wang

  Shanxi Agricultural University

  10 shared

• Bradford S. Schwartz

  Morgridge Institute for Research

  9 shared

• Earl T. Gritton

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  9 shared

Labs

• Goldman LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Botany

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1985

• M.S., Botany

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1982

• B.S., Botany

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1979