Current projects:
Interplay between the phyllosphere microbiome, epicuticular wax, and root mucilage on sorghum microbiome
I hypothesize that the epicuticular wax and aerial root mucilage are suitable environments for selected bacteria that support sorghum resilience to drought stress and nitrogen limitation. To address this hypothesis, I aim to:
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Gain further insight into epicuticular wax microbiome assembly and dynamics.
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Determine the bacteria phylogenetic diversity, functional gene diversity, and plant-growth-promoting molecular mechanisms in the mucilage and wax that may support sorghum resilience to environmental stresses.
Previous projects:
Investigating the role of rain as a source of the plant leaf microbiome
The source of bacteria that colonize the aerial surface of plants has not been determined with confidence. I am testing the hypothesis that rain is an important contributor to the plant leaf microbiome. I used 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize bacterial communities associated with rainfall and, subsequently, used rain-borne bacteria to inoculate lab-grown tomato plants. My analysis indicates that at least some bacterial families present in rain efficiently colonize plant leaves and contribute to the tomato leaf microbiome.
Exploring rain-isolated bacteria as potential biopesticides
The efficacy of biological products depends on certain environmental conditions. The Vinatzer lab is testing the hypothesis that locally rain-isolated bacteria could be used as biopesticides to control fireblight disease in Virginia, USA. I performed a large screening to test the antagonistic effect of rain-isolated bacteria against E. amylovora in vitro, under laboratory and field conditions. So far, this work shows the potential of rain as a source of bacteria well adapted to environmental stresses with the ability to control fireblight disease on apple.
Using Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies for plant disease diagnostic
Emerging plant pathogens threaten global food security, making a rapid and precise pathogen identification a key aspect of crop protection and disease control. The Vinatzer lab is using two next-generation sequencing technologies to test their utility over cultured-base microbial identification in rapid plant disease diagnostic. First, I used culture-independent 16S rRNA sequencing to explore and compare the composition of the leaf microbiome, associated with health and disease. Also, I tested the MinION, a nanopore sequencing device, as a tool for the identification of infectious agents in real-time in laboratory infected and naturally infected plants.