NSF Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship for FY 2009

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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.