Source: PURDUE UNIVERSITY submitted to
TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF PLANT PATHOLOGISTS IN MULTI-SCALE, QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES TO SOLVE PLANT DISEASE PROBLEMS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1020556
Grant No.
2020-38420-30722
Project No.
IND00082250G
Proposal No.
2018-09327
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
KK
Project Start Date
Apr 1, 2020
Project End Date
Mar 31, 2025
Grant Year
2020
Project Director
Iyer-Pascuzzi, A.
Recipient Organization
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
WEST LAFAYETTE,IN 47907
Performing Department
Botany and Plant Pathology
Non Technical Summary
Plant diseases are a significant threat to global food security.Given that climate variability is leading to newly emerging diseases, crop loss due to plant disease is poised to become one of the biggest crop production problems of this century. Both molecular and field-scale approaches for disease management are critical to making gains in plant production. New genomic and phenomic tools demand that plant pathologists have a strong foundation in quantitative skills, including big data and image analysis.Because of the multiple scales and cross-disciplinary nature of plant pathology, scientists trained in molecular and field-scale plant pathology who can integrate this knowledge with quantitative approaches are needed. In this National Needs Fellowship proposal, we will develop a new doctoral training program that will train six PhD fellows to solve plant disease problems by offering unique experiential learning and leadership opportunities from molecular to field plant pathology integrated with cross-disciplinary training in quantitative sciences. Success will be measured by number of doctoral degrees awarded, quality of research, and job placement in academia, industry and government. The specific objectives are: 1) develop a new doctoral program that will train six PhD National Needs Fellows within the TESA of plant production, and provide cross-disciplinary training in computational and quantiative biology, 2) provide research and teaching opportunities in the TESA from molecular to field scales, 3) provide experiential learning and leadership opportunities through innovative internships in extension, industry, and Purdue's Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory, 4) prepare students for jobs in the TESA. ?
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2122499116033%
2122499106034%
2122499104033%
Knowledge Area
212 - Pathogens and Nematodes Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
2499 - Plant research, general;

Field Of Science
1040 - Molecular biology; 1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1160 - Pathology;
Goals / Objectives
The goalof this project is to train six PhD fellows to solve plant disease problems byofferingunique experiential learning and leadership opportunities from molecular to field plant pathology integrated with cross-disciplinary training in quantitative sciences.The specific objectives are: 1) develop a new doctoral program that will train six PhD National Needs Fellows within the TESA of plant production, and provide cross-disciplinary training in computational and quantiative biology, 2) provide research and teaching opportunities in the TESA from molecular to field scales, 3) provide experiential learning and leadership opportunities through innovative internships in extension, industry, and Purdue's Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory, 4) prepare students for jobs in the TESA. We will recruit students from national colleges and universities includingfrom Historically Black Colleges andUniversities, and we will engage Purdue's College of Agriculture Office of Multicultural Programs to enhance our recruitment efforts.
Project Methods
Our NNF doctoral training program will focus on experiential learning in plant pathology through hands-on research and internships, and combine these with skills necessary for Fellows to succeed in the workplace. These include skills in teaching, leadership, communication and mentorship. Fellows will conduct three five-week rotations their first semester in one of 14 laboratories whose plant pathology research spans multiple scales and approaches. Fellows will be required to conduct two internships during their Fellowship. Internship opportunities include working at a local biotechnology company, or Purdue's Plant and Pest DiagnosticLaboratory. Fellowswill serve as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate laboratory course (e.g. BTNY301Introductory Plant Pathology) for one semester and enhance their teaching skills through formal teaching workshops. Professional job 'soft skills' will be taught through the new Professional Job Skills seminar series and practiced during internships. Fellows will be required to take a course in leadership offered at Purdue. Leadership and mentorship skills will also be promoted through a new peer-mentoring program. Together our program will promote pipelining to the plant production (specifically plant pathology) workforce.

Progress 04/01/23 to 03/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this proposal is doctoral students. As of Fall 2024, there are six students in the program. One will be starting graduate school in Fall 2024, the others are currently earning their PhDs in the Iyer-Pascuzzi, Johal, or Cruz labs. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training activities: Doctoral students have attended classes, most of have done at least one internship. Students are conducting researchin the plant pathology lab in which they will complete the PhD andwork one-on-one with their research mentor. Professional activities: Both students attended weekly seminars as well as national and international meetings in their sub-discipline.Students engage with other plant biology students at Purdue and elsewhere. Students are encouraged to develop their career goals through networking events. Several students have connected with Bayer or Corteva through Purdue programs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Publications and presentations as described above. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to train students, write publications, and promote the professional development of students through presentations, networking and publications.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: We have developed a doctoral training program as described in this objective. We currently have 5 students in the program, with another joining in August 2024. Of the six students, one is first generation, four are female, one is Native American, and two are of Hispanic descent. Objective 2: The students are in laboratories that span molecular and field work, from cellular to field phenotyping. Objective 3: Students had internships in industry and in teaching settings, in alignment with their career objectives. Objective 4: The internships and research are preparing students well. This is evidence by their publications and presentations.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Taylor, A. and Leuschen-Kohl, R. Accepted. Can we use RNAi to control the spread of the Southern Pine Beetle? A case study on RNAi, Research in Indigenous Communities, and Scientific Communication. Teaching Case Study, National Science Teaching Association.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Rogers A, Jaiswal N, Roggenkamp E, Kim HS, MacCready JS, Chilvers MI, Scofield SR, Iyer-Pascuzzi AS, Helm M. Genome-informed trophic classification and functional characterization of virulence proteins from the maize tar spot pathogen Phyllachora maydis. Phytopathology. 2024 May 8. doi: 10.1094/PHYTO-01-24-0037-R. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38717940.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2025 Citation: A Ralstonia solanacearum type III effector alters the actin and microtubule cytoskeleton to promote bacterial virulence in plants Rachel Hiles, Abigail Rogers, Namrata Jaiswal, Weiwei Zhang, Jules Butchacas, Marcus V. Merfa, Taylor Klass, Erica Kaser, Jonathan M. Jacobs, Christopher J. Staiger, Matthew Helm, Anjali S. Iyer-Pascuzzi bioRxiv 2023.11.01.565113; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.01.565113


Progress 04/01/22 to 03/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Five graduate students (PhD level) were trained this year on the project, three with USDA - NNF direct funds and two with matching funds from Purdue. Two graduate students (Brenden Lane and Rebecca Leuschen-Kohl)were authors on publications: Zhang, C.,Lane, B., Lee, D., Ross, T. J., Da Silva, C. R., Telenko, D. E., Goodwin, S. B., Scofield, S. R., Oh, S., Jung, J., & Cruz, C. D. (2023). Monitoring tar spot disease in corn at different canopy and temporal levels using aerial multispectral imaging and machine learning.Frontiers in Plant Science,13, 1077403. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1077403 Meline V, Hendrich CG, Truchon AN, Caldwell D, Hiles R,Leuschen-Kohl R, Tran T, Mitra RM, Allen C, Iyer-Pascuzzi AS. Tomato deploys defence and growth simultaneously to resist bacterial wilt disease. Plant Cell Environ. 2022 Oct 10. doi: 10.1111/pce.14456. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36213953.? Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All five students are receiving training in plant pathology. Students are training in the Iyer-Pascuzzi, Johal, and Cruz labs within the department. Students attendedprofessional development workshops in conjunction with other plant pathologists at the North Central American Phytopathological Society Graduate Networking Initiative and had the opportunity to attend a plant biology careers class taught by Dr. Iyer-Pascuzzi in the fall, attend journal club and plant biology networking events within the department and on campus, mentor other students, attend national and international conferences. Two students performed internships. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Two students (Brenden Lane and Rebecca Leuschen-Kohl) co-authored publications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are recruiting the sixth and laststudent this year. Research training as well as journal club, mentoring and networking opportunities will continue this year as before. Additional studentswill begin their internships this year. Students will continue to publish and present at scientific meetings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This training grant admitted one additional studentin 2022-2023, for a total of five students. Four students are female, and two are underrepresented minorities (LatinX and Native American). The studentperformed rotations for the first semester and subsequently joined Dr. Iyer-Pascuzzi's laboratory. The five students working in the program work in both molecular and applied plant pathology. To facilitate inter-disciplinary training, a plant pathology journal club met weekly. This was led by students and covered a range of topics from molecular to applied plant pathology. Students had the opportunity to mentor incoming plant pathology graduate students and participated in professional development networking workshops with other students in plant pathology graduate programs. For example, one of the students led the development of a Purdue Plant science symposium in the Spring and a networking event with other students in North Central APS (American Phytopathology Society). In addition, one student performed an internship with Beck's Hybrids; another learned leadership skills at an intensive mentoring workshop, and others went to their first conferences (BeKa Leushen-Kohl to IS-MPMI; Sana Mohammad to APS).

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Zhang, C., Lane, B., Lee, D., Ross, T. J., Da Silva, C. R., Telenko, D. E., Goodwin, S. B., Scofield, S. R., Oh, S., Jung, J., & Cruz, C. D. (2023). Monitoring tar spot disease in corn at different canopy and temporal levels using aerial multispectral imaging and machine learning. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 1077403. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1077403
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Meline V, Hendrich CG, Truchon AN, Caldwell D, Hiles R, Leuschen-Kohl R, Tran T, Mitra RM, Allen C, Iyer-Pascuzzi AS. Tomato deploys defence and growth simultaneously to resist bacterial wilt disease. Plant Cell Environ. 2022 Oct 10. doi: 10.1111/pce.14456. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36213953.


Progress 04/01/21 to 03/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Four graduate students (PhD level) were trained this year on the project, three with USDA - NNF direct funds and onewith matching funds from Purdue. One graduate student (Brenden Lane) published a manuscript:Oh, S.; Lee, D.-Y.; Gongora-Canul, C.; Ashapure, A.; Carpenter, J.; Cruz, A.P.; Fernandez-Campos, M.;Lane, B.Z.; Telenko, D.E.P.; Jung, J.; Cruz, C.D.Tar Spot Disease Quantification Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Data.2021,13, 2567.https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13132567 Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All four students are receiving training in plant pathology. Students are training in the Iyer-Pascuzzi, Johal, and Cruz labs within the department. Students attendended professional development workshops in conjunction with other plant pathologists at the North Central American Phytopathological Society Graduate Networking Initiative and had the opportunity to attend a plant biology careers class taught by Dr. Iyer-Pascuzzi in the fall, attend journal club, and mentor other students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?One student, Brendan Lane, co-authored a publication. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have recruited an additional student to join the program in 2022-2023 and will be looking for another student for the following year. Research training as well asjournal club, mentoring and networking opportunities will continue this year as before. The students that started the program in the first year will begin their internships this year.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This training grant admitted two additional students in 2021-2022, for a total of fourstudents. Three students are female, and two are underrepresented minorities (LatinX and Native American). Students performed rotations for the first semester and subsequently joined plant pathology laboratories (Dr. Guri Johal and Dr. Iyer-Pascuzzi). The four students working in the program work in both molecular and applied plant pathology. To facilitate inter-disciplinary training, aplant pathology journal club met every week during the fall and spring semesters. This was led by students and covered a range of topics from molecular to applied plant pathology. Students had the opportunity to mentor incoming plant pathology graduate students and participated in professional development networking workshops with other students in plant pathology graduate programs.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Oh, S.; Lee, D.-Y.; Gongora-Canul, C.; Ashapure, A.; Carpenter, J.; Cruz, A.P.; Fernandez-Campos, M.; Lane, B.Z.; Telenko, D.E.P.; Jung, J.; Cruz, C.D. Tar Spot Disease Quantification Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Data. 2021, 13, 2567. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13132567


Progress 04/01/20 to 03/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this proposal issix doctoral students. In the year for this progress report (April 1 2020 - March 31 2021), we enrolled two doctoral students into the program. These students are currently engaged in scholarly research. Changes/Problems:Due to COVID, leadership and professional opportunities for students were limited. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training activities: Both doctoral students have attended classes, performed research in three different labs, and are now in the plant pathology lab in which they will complete the PhD. Both students now work one-on-one with their research mentor. Professional activities: Both students attended weekly virtual seminars. However, due to COVID, professional activities such as attending conferences and workshops were limited. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Within the next reporting period, students will continue to perform their research, and additional students will join the program in Fall 2022. As restrictions lift, students will have more professional and leadership opportunities, including attending conferences, workshops, andinternship opportunities.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: In this first year of the project, we enrolled two students in the fellowship program. We initiated a rotation program, and both students performed three rotations in three different plant pathology labs. Rotations ranged from molecular plant pathology to field-based pathology labs. Objective 2: One student joined a plant disease epidemiology laboratory with field-based applications, and the other joined a molecular plant pathology laboratory. Objective 3: Students have not yet had experiential learning or leadership opportunities. Objective 4: Both students are engaged in scholarly research that is preparing them for jobs in the TESA. One of the goals was to recruit first generation and/or underrepresented minority students. One of the two new students is a female Native American student.

Publications