DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Genetic Basis of Adaptation in the Plant Pathogen Pseudomonas syringae

细菌在不同的环境中定居，使它们能够在这些不同环境中生存的各种特性具有广泛的生态，医学和农业相关性。因此，人们对确定基因变化很感兴趣，这些变化使特定的菌株在某些环境中蓬勃发展，而在其他环境中消亡。该项目将确定允许植物细菌病原体假单胞菌在不同环境中传播的基因。该研究将细菌基因组的比较与比较功能遗传学结合起来，以确定使P. lingae菌株在作物种群和天然植物种群中成为急性病原体并允许P. lingae在土壤中增殖的特定基因。了解允许细菌在不同环境中生存的遗传变化具有重要意义，因为细菌菌株中的轻微遗传变化可能导致细菌在土壤中的繁殖。整个植物种群的毁灭或病人的死亡。 该项目的跨学科性质支持本科生和研究生的培训。该项目包括对K-12学生，包括来自代表性不足群体的学生进行宣传和教育。

Bacteria colonize diverse environments, and the various traits that allow them to survive in these different environments are of wide ecological, medical and agricultural relevance. There is thus considerable interest in determining the genetic changes that allow specific strains to flourish in some environments while perishing in others. This project will identify the genes that allow the plant bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae to spread in different environments. The proposed study pairs the comparison of bacterial genomes with comparative functional genetics to identify the specific genes that render P. syringae strains acute pathogens in crop populations and natural plant populations and allow P. syringae to proliferate in soil.An understanding of the genetic changes that allow bacteria to survive in different environments has important implications because slight genetic changes in a bacterial strain can result in the decimation of entire plant populations or the death of a patient. The cross-disciplinary nature of the project supports the training of undergraduate and graduate students. The project includes outreach and education of K-12 students, including students from underrepresented groups.