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的环境中生存的各种特征具有广泛的生态、医学和农业相关性。因此，确定允许特定菌株在某些环境中蓬勃发展而在另一些环境中灭亡的基因变化是相当有兴趣的。该项目将确定使植物细菌病原体丁香假单胞菌在不同环境中传播的基因。这项拟议的研究将细菌基因组的比较与比较功能遗传学相结合，以确定使丁香疫霉菌株在作物种群和自然植物种群中成为急性病原体并允许丁香疫霉在土壤中繁殖的特定基因。了解使细菌能够在不同环境中生存的基因变化具有重要意义，因为细菌菌株的微小基因变化可能导致整个植物种群的毁灭或患者的死亡。该项目的跨学科性质支持本科生和研究生的培养。该项目包括对K-12学生的外联和教育，包括来自代表性不足群体的学生。

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.