Influence of Flagellin Polymorphisms, Gene Regulation, and Responsive Memory on the Motility of Xanthomonas Species That Cause Bacterial Spot Disease of Solanaceous Plants
Name: Maria Laura Malvino
Current Position: Ph.D. candidate, crop sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Education: B.S. degree in food science and technology and M.S. degree in biotechnology at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina; M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in crop sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Non-scientific Interest: Ice hockey, running, roller blading
Brief Bio: While I was wrapping up my studies in the food science and technology program, I realized that what I really wanted to do was to improve our food through altering its genetics, as I thought that was the way to make a bigger impact and lead to real change. Therefore, shortly after I finished my bachelor’s degree, I pursued an M.S. degree in biotechnology. I also was fortunate enough to work for some years at a seed company performing biotechnology-related research. After a while, out of curiosity, I applied for a Fulbright Scholarship, and I won! This opportunity allowed me to fulfill my dreams of coming to the United States and studying what I love the most—how to improve the genetics of our crop plants. In my recently published research, I navigated the fascinating world of Xanthomonas bacteria and how they have evolved to evade recognition by their host plants. When I first found polymorphisms in the flagellin proteins that form the bacterial flagellum, I thought there could be a correlation between the different variants and bacterial motility, but this was not the case. Interestingly, I found some Xanthomonas species demonstrated a responsive memory, which is a phenomenon that has been observed in other bacterial species in response to different stimuli. This evidence supports previous work showing that bacteria deploy different strategies to improve their long-term fitness under constantly fluctuating environmental conditions. In terms of agricultural production, it is important to have a clear understanding of plant pathogens in order to defeat them.