Julia Mars, Chair

About my research

Suberin deposition in the root has been proven to help the plant retain water under drought conditions, prevent oxygen loss in submerged plants, and block pathogens from infecting the roots. Suberin is thus a promising trait for enhancing plant multi-stress resilience. However, the effect of suberin is only beneficial when it is deposited in a specific spatial pattern, which also depends on environmental conditions. Engineering suberized barriers in plant remains thus challenging. Recently a novel class of microbes has been identified – Suberin Inducing Microbes (SIMs). Arthrobacter isolate VK49 enhanced suberin deposition in sorghum endodermis. The soil, from which SIMs were isolated was also suppressing infection with a parasitic plant, Striga. We aim to further test the potential of SIMs to promote resilience to other stresses and identify their mechanism of action.