(3aj) Engineering Bacteria and Plants to Dissect and Manipulate Plant-Microbe Interactions

Plants play a major role in Earth’s carbon cycle, and thus, support, sustain, and shape much of the life on our planet. Plant-microbe interactions influence the growth and development of living plants as well as the decomposition of dead plant biomass. Relatively few plant-microbe interactions are mechanistically understood and filling this knowledge gap is necessary to manipulate and engineer these interactions for the development of new technologies for the bio-agriculture, bio-fuel, and bio-chemical industries. Through genetic engineering of non-model bacteria found at plant-microbe interfaces and the utilization of engineered plants, we can probe these interactions, define them mechanistically, and manipulate these bacteria, plants, and their interactions for industrial application.

During my PhD, I investigated the interaction of extremely thermophilic bacteria from the genus Caldicellulosiruptor with lignocellulosic plant biomass. My research focused on the multi-domain, multi-functional glycoside hydrolase enzymes produced by these species and their characterization both in vitro and in vivo. Through the development of enhanced genetic engineering tools in Caldicellulosiruptor bescii, I constructed engineered strains with altered enzyme production and lignocellulosic biomass degradation ability. Associated work produced strains with altered metabolic flux to fuel molecules from unpretreated engineered plant biomass, serving as proof-of-concept for these strains as bio-fuel and bio-chemical producers of industrial importance.

In my postdoctoral research, I have worked to mechanistically define plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions within the Arabidopsis root microbiome. These interactions can have positive or negative effects on the growth, development, and productivity of the plant host and understanding these interactions mechanistically is necessary to manipulate them for bio-agriculture application. By using omics, systems biology, gain- and loss-of-function screening, and genetic engineering techniques, I have identified mechanisms by which different bacteria maintain auxin hormone homeostasis for stereotypic plant root development, suppress the Arabidopsis immune response to the elicitor flg22, and evade detection by the plant immune system.

Future work will continue to generate and dissect genomic, metagenomic, and transcriptomic datasets and utilize phenotypic screening and genetic tools in bacteria and plants to determine the mechanisms governing various plant-microbe interactions. Uncovering these mechanisms will enable additional projects to develop this understanding into new technologies for the bio-agriculture, bio-chemical, and bio-fuel industries.

Teaching Interests:

Thermodynamics, Separations, Introduction to Chemical Engineering, Material & Energy Balances, Bioengineering/Biotechnology Lecture and/or Laboratory Courses. During graduate school at NC State University, I was the teaching assistant for both the Thermodynamics I & II undergraduate chemical engineering courses and various elective courses in Biotechnology. Through a mentored teaching experience, I helped develop the course and laboratory material as well as helped teach a new Metagenomics course in the NC State Biotechnology Program curriculum. In my postdoc I have mentored students for undergraduate research credit from the Biology, Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering departments and advised three undergraduate theses in the Biomedical Engineering Department at UNC. I have mentored 27 undergraduates in the laboratory over my time as a graduate student and postdoc and I am passionate about teaching and mentoring in both classroom and laboratory settings.