Submitted by Mary WILDERMUTH on
Powdery mildews are obligate biotrophic fungi that grow and reproduce on living plants. They get all of their resources from the plant and have evolved this obligate dependence which is associated with the loss of their capacity to make central metabolites and macromolecules that can be obtained from the plant. In order to acquire the plant nutrients they require at each growth stage, they manipulate specific functional processes. This project, with mentor graduate student Hang Xue, is focused on how the powdery mildew manipulates chloroplast metabolism through the use of secreted fungal effector proteins that are transported to the plant chloroplast and the specific plant genes that are manipulated for fungal benefit.
The undergraduate will work with mentor graduate student Hang Xue to create and genotype Arabidopsis mutants in genes of interest. This involves plant maintenance, crossing, DNA extraction, PCR primer design, and PCR analysis. In addition, the undergraduate may be involved in other aspects of the project including microscopic visualization of protein interaction, cloning of constructs, powdery mildew infection assays, and/or yeast 2-hybrid analyses.
Must have completed lower division requirements in the biological sciences.
Must have strong interest in plant-microbe interactions, work experience, attention to detail, be reliable, able to communicate, follow directions and ask questions.