NSF Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship for FY 2009

本行动根据2009年美国复苏与再投资法案（公法111-5）资助国家科学基金会2009年度少数民族博士后研究奖学金。该奖学金支持奖学金获得者在主办实验室的研究和培训计划，该奖学金获得者还提出了扩大生物学参与的计划。安德烈·托雷斯-巴拉甘的研究和培训计划的题目是“蚯蚓堆肥中昆虫病原体的多样性及其作为生物防治剂的潜力”。这项研究的主办机构是北卡罗莱纳州立大学，由Yasmin Cardoza博士赞助。蚯蚓堆肥是由蚯蚓消化有机废物产生的，具有很高的微生物活性和营养成分，在农业中有助于促进植物生长和健康。近年来的研究表明，蚯蚓堆肥在重要的经济作物上施用可使植物对许多害虫产生抗性，在防治作物害虫方面具有广泛的应用前景。这种抗性的来源尚不清楚，但可能是在蚯蚓堆肥中发现的有益微生物群。本研究调查了两种商业蚯蚓堆肥中微生物的存在和多样性，以及它们对多种玉米相关害虫的影响。培训目标包括提高微生物学的技术技能和学习新的虫害防治方法。这项基础研究的广泛影响可能导致经济上重要的节肢动物害虫的创新管理策略。美国和墨西哥科学家之间的国际合作以及来自代表性不足群体的学生的参与也在发展之中。

This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009 and is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Andrea Torres-Barragan is "Diversity of insect pathogens in vermicomposts and their potential as biological control agents." The host institution for this research is the North Carolina State University under the sponsorship of Dr. Yasmin Cardoza.Vermicompost is produced by earthworm digestion of organic waste matters and has high microbial activity and nutritional content, making it useful in agriculture to promote plant growth and health. Recently it has been shown that vermicompost confers plant resistance to many insect pests when used on economically important plants and may be widely useful in control of insect pests on crops. The source of this resistance is unknown but may be beneficial micro-flora found in vermicompost. This research investigates the presence and diversity of micro-organisms in two commercial sources of vermicompost and their effects on a variety of corn related insect pests. Training objectives include improving technical skills in microbiology and learning new methodologies of pest control. The broader impact of this basic research may lead to innovative management strategies for economically important arthropod pests. Also being developed are international collaborations between US and Mexican scientists and the involvement of students from underrepresented groups.