Biology and identification of emerging plant pathogens
Rodrigo Almeida, Professor
Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.
Grapevine leaf roll disease and red blotch disease are two economically important grape pathogens in California. The diseases are currently not curable, so mitigation efforts including roguing (removing infected plants) are used to reduce disease spread. Roguing requires correctly identifying infected plants, which can be difficult to do visually due to confusing, often asynchronous symptoms. This work will contribute to a project developing an AI tool to facilitate fast and accurate disease identification in vineyards. The tool will help growers control the spread of leaf roll and red blotch diseases in their vineyards while improving disease tracking across California.
Role: The URAP student will use molecular biology and microbiology techniques to quantify viruses in field-collected plant samples. This will include sample processing, DNA extraction and qPCR. Training in all laboratory techniques will be provided. These results, in tandem with images, will be used to confirm disease incidence in order to develop the disease-identifying machine learning algorithm. Additionally, there are opportunities to perform research with plant samples and set up greenhouse experiments at Oxford Tract. If there is interest in field work, we can arrange for students to visit the experimental vineyard and collect plant samples and observational symptom data. Finally, our lab has expertise in genomics and bioinformatics, and can provide training in Python, R, and Bash scripting to students interested in bacterial genomics. Ultimately, the project and responsibilities will be shaped by the interests of the student.
Qualifications: Prior academic research or laboratory experience is not required. A keen attention to detail, willingness to ask questions, and respect for colleagues are required. The ideal student should be excited about biology, molecular ecology, evolution, and plant diseases.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Andrea Brown, Ph.D. candidate
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: http://nature.berkeley.edu/~rodrigo/Lab%20page/index.html
Biological & Health Sciences