ph: Valerian Meline
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Paula A. Gómez-Zapata, Ph.D.
Mycologist and Plant Pathologist.
Areas of Research Interest:
Rust fungi, Biocontrol, Mycoparasitism, Characterization studies, Fungal Genomics.
About me
About me
I am a Plant Pathology researcher interested in the control of fungal plant pathogens through biological control and bioinformatics. I studied BSE in Agronomic Engineering at Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL) with a major in Phytopathology. While I was an undergraduate student, I did an internship for six months at Purdue University at the Arthur Fungarium, screening rust specimens for the presence of natural enemies of rust fungi. After finishing my undergraduate studies, I carried out a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology at Purdue University, which was focused on the characterization of the natural enemies of rust fungi by studying their species diversity, host-specificity for rust fungi, biogeography, and interaction events between these natural enemies and rusts. These projects led me to gain skills and experience in fieldwork, bioinformatics, phylogenetic analyses, genome assemblies, rust species identification, fungal cultures, biotrophic fungi, and molecular biology techniques, such as DNA extraction, PCR, primers design, and experience in troubleshooting these techniques. I also gained experience teaching biology courses to undergraduate students and training them in research.
I also worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University in Catherine Aime's lab. My role in the project focused on studying the diversity of rust fungi (Pucciniales, Basidiomycota) from tropical ecosystems, whose diversity and records are almost completely unknown. This project allowed me to gain new skills in analyzing genomic-scale data and multiplexed next-generation sequencing, and also reinforced my skills in the morphological and molecular identification of rust species.
Currently, I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in the Department of Forestry Mycology and Plant Pathology. The project I am working on focuses on population genomics in the evolution of the lifecycle switch of Cronartium pini, the causal agent of Scots pine blister rust.
I enjoy collaborations, learning, and continuing to develop new skills.
Feel free to contact me: paulamelinegomez(at)gmail. com and welcome to my webpage :)
ph: Valerian Meline
Publications
Publications
Gómez-Zapata, P. A., Díaz-Valderrama, J. R., Fatemi, S., Ruiz-Castro, C. O., & Aime, M. C. (2024). Characterization of the fungal genus Sphaerellopsis associated with rust fungi: species diversity, host-specificity, biogeography, and in-vitro mycoparasitic events of S. macroconidialis on the southern corn rust, Puccinia polysora. IMA fungus, 15(1), 18.
Abbasi, M., Rubio, K., Gómez-Zapata, PA., Díaz-Valderrama, J. R., & Aime, M. C. (2023). Uromyces savulescui on statice (Limonium sinuatum) in the Americas and reevaluation of its reported geographic range. Plant Disease, (ja).
Gómez-Zapata, PA, Donald D. Davis, Aime MC (2023). Rust disease caused by Uredinopsis osmundae on balsam fir, Canaan fir, white fir, and sensitive fern reported from Pennsylvania, USA. Plant Health Progress (accepted).
Gómez-Zapata PA, Smith ME, Frank MS, Aime MC (2022). First report of Pucciniastrum boehmeriae in North America, causing rust disease in bog hemp. Plant Health Progress 23 (4), 476-477. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHP-02-22-0016-BR .
Gómez-Zapata PA, Haelewaters D, Quijada L, Pfister DH, Aime MC (2021). Notes on Trochila (Ascomycota, Leotiomycetes), with new species and combinations. MycoKeys 78: 21-47.
Gómez-Zapata, PA, & Salazar-Yepes, M. (2017). Camarotella colombiana sp. nov. (Phyllachoraceae) on Ceroxylon quindiuense (Arecaceae) from Colombia. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 88(2): 275-279.
Gómez-Zapata, PA, & Salazar-Yepes, M. (2014). Meliola crucifera Starbärk agente causal del mildiu negro de Melicoccus bijugatus Jacq., en Colombia. Revista De Protección Vegetal 29(3), 208-211.
ph: Valerian Meline
My Skills
My Skills
Bioinformatics and Big Data Analysis
• Fungal Genome Assembly (FatsQC, Trimmomatic, Bowtie2, Kmergenie, Spades, MaSuRCA, Quast, Reapr, BUSCO, SSPACE, GapFiller).
• Phylogenetic analyses (Sequencher, MEGA, TrimAL, IQ-TREE, CIPRES, FigTree).
• Programming (R, Python, IDL).
• SNP calling analysis.
• Familiar with several Fungal Databases (Mycocosm, Ensembl FungiDB, SGD, and CGD).
Molecular Biology
• PCR, DNA extraction, Primer Design, electrophoresis, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of fungi.
Applied Plant Science
• Experimental design in greenhouse assays working with fungal obligate biotrophs.
• Interaction tests for potential fungal biocontrol agents.
• Inoculations of obligate fungi in the greenhouse.
• Fieldwork experience collecting rust fungi in Africa, North America, and South America.
Microbiology
• Pure culturing fungi.
• Identification and characterization of fungal species.
Languages
• Fluent in Spanish and English.
• Portuguese (Intermediate level).
My strengths
My strengths
Achiever "People exceptionally talented in the Achiever theme work hard and possess a great deal of stamina. They take immense satisfaction in being busy and productive."
Deliberative "People exceptionally talented in the deliberative them are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate obstacles."
Context "People exceptionally talented in the Context theme enjoy thinking about the past. They understand the present by researching its history ."
Learner "People exceptionally talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them."
Intellection "People exceptionally talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions."
Clifton Strengths
ph: Valerian Meline
Research presentations
Research presentations
IMC12. Investigating The Lifecycle Switch In Cronartium pini Through Population Genomic Analysis. August 2024. Poster
IOBC 2023. Characterization of the fungal genus Sphaerellopsis, a potential microbial biocontrol agent of rust fungi. June 2023. Oral presentation
MASMC 2023. The enemy of my enemy is my friend: Characterization of Sphaerellopsis, a mycoparasite of rust fungi. April 2023. Oral presentation
XXVI International Congress of Entomology. Mycodiplosis, fly larvae feeding on rust fungi. Species diversity, geographic distribution, and rust host-specificity. July 2022. Oral presentation
Community Platform for Agricultural Sciences COMPASS. Hyperparasites of rust fungi at the rust collections of the Arthur Fungarium: species diversity, host-specificity, and geographic distribution. June 2021. Oral presentation
APS. Annual Meeting Plant Health. Mycoparasitism and Host-specificity of Sphaerellopsis on Rust fungi. August 2019. Poster
11th International Mycological Congress. Parasites of Rust Fungi from South America. July 2018. Poster
Mycological Society of America. Hyperparasites attacking rust fungi: Species and Distribution. June 2017. Poster
Latin American Mycological Congress. Pucciniastrum (Pucciniales), a new genus reported in Colombia. November 2014. Poster
60th Annual Meeting of the Interamerican Society of Tropical Horticulture & V Colombian meeting of Horticulture. Potential dispersion of the Black Sigatoka disease by the wind in Uraba, Colombia. September 2014.Poster
National Colombian Congress of Plant Pathology. Leaf galls, a new disease on the wax palm Ceroxylon quindiuense (H. Karst) H. Wendl, in Colombia. September 2013. Oral presentation
National Colombian Congress of Plant Pathology. Black mildew on the mamoncillo fruit in Antioquia. September 2013. Poster.
Teliosorus of rust collected in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique (March 2023)
ph: Paula A. Gomez-Zapata
Awards
Awards
2022 Outstanding Ph.D. student | Botany and Plant Pathology Department, Purdue University.
2011 -2014 Outstanding undergraduate student. Exception full tuition | National University of Colombia.
Workshops
Workshops
Fungal Pathogens Genomics Workshop, May 2023. Happy to attend the FPG workshop in Wellcome Genomc Campus, Hinxton, UK, to learn about fungal databases and their tools for genomic analyses.
Telia and basidia on rust collected in National Park Gorongosa, Mozambique (March 2023)
ph: Paula A. Gomez-Zapata
Contact me!
Contact me!
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