RESEARCH
Research Overview
At Kenyon College, I conduct research that encompasses seemingly disparate, but interconnected topics of Plant Physiology and Plant Pathology. One one hand, plant physiology entails the study of molecular, chemical, and physical processes - like photosynthesis, tropisms, sugar and water transport, for instance - that sustain plant life at both the cellular and organismal level. On the other hand, plant pathology is the systematic scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (viral, bacterial, fungal etc.) and environmental conditions. As such, these two fields of study seem altogether unrelated, but they are in fact interconnected in fascinating ways.
Broadly speaking, our lab is interested in studying how photosynthesized sugars are transported and allocated in evolutionarily diverse lineages of plants, ranging from mosses to angiosperms. Currently, we specialize in two model organisms, namely, moss Physcomitrella patens, and thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana. Understanding the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the movement of sugar in plants is crucial within the wider purview of a world experiencing steep population growth and a concomitant increase in food demand. In doing so, we use Physcomitrella as the model to study the evolutionarily conserved pathways of sugar partitioning in plants, and use Arabidopsis as the model to genetically manipulate sugar flux in planta. It just so happens that heterotrophic pathogens are constantly seeking external sources of sugars and given that the self-sufficient photoautotrophic plants produce their own sugars, plants often become prime targets for these pathogens. According to estimates from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), plant diseases cost almost $220 billion to the global economy (http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1187738/icode/)! We use Pseudomonas syringae - Arabidopsis thaliana pathosystem to study how plant genes encoding enzymes that metabolize photosynthesized sugars respond to attack by pathogenic bacteria like Pseudomonas, and by using this information, try to engineer plants that are resistant to pathogens.
Student Training
I study plants from the molecular to the organismal level, and I provide hands-on training to students one-on-one in person. My goal is to equip you with a broad array of technical laboratory skills so that you feel empowered to perform complex experiments in a modern lab anywhere in the world. You will have copious opportunities to attain proficiency in:
Growing and maintaining a wide variety of plants like Physcomitrella patens and Arabidopsis thaliana.
Sterile techniques, use of laminar flow hood etc.
Working with bacteria like Escherichia coli, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and Pseuomonas syringae.
Molecular biology, including DNA/RNA/Protein extraction, PCR, Crispr/Cas9, plasmid/vector construction, genotyping, Western Blotting, to name a few.
Plant microtechniques - paraffin embedding of plant tissues and microtome sectioning for histology, immunohistochemistry, and RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization.
Brightfield and fluorescence microscopy of whole-mount or sectioned plant samples.
Sample preparation for transmission and scanning electron microscopy methods.
Using Licor-6800 Portable Photosynthesis System for real-time measurement of plant photosynthetic status.
Radioisotope labeling of plants using 14CO2 and quantification of carbon flux in different plant tissues using a scintillation counter.
Analysis of micrographs using software like ImageJ and IMOD.
Data analysis by using appropriate statistical methods.
Beyond the acquisition of technical skills, my intention is to promote your critical thinking and writing skills as well. As such, you will also be encouraged to disseminate your results via peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.
Helpful links for plant genomic and molecular biology resources:
https://peatmoss.plantcode.cup.uni-freiburg.de/
Useful free software links:
www.ebi.ac.uk/Tools/msa/clustalo/
https://bio3d.colorado.edu/imod/
Consider joining the American Society of Plant Biologists (www.aspb.org).