Current Research

I am currently working at SLU on the transcriptomics of ectomycorrhizal fungi under elevated CO2, looking specifically at Piloderma sp. symbioses on Scots pine. We are hoping to relate changes in the expression of fungal genes to previously observed shifts in the composition of mycorrhizal root exudates under elevated CO2.

I have previously studied the composition of fungal genes on ectomycorrhizal root tips on seedlings regenerating after wildfire in the Alaskan interior while working at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. I have also studied a great many types of microbial ecology systems while working at the University of California in Riverside, including soil, leaf litter, plant roots, nematode egg masses, plant sap, Australian corals, and mouse intestines or feces. The ultimate goal of the research was never to simply survey these environments, but to try to identify microorganisms involved in maintaining health or causing disease across a range of simulated environments using molecular biology techniques.

Publications

Oligonucleotide fingerprinting of rRNA genes (OFRG) macroarray. Picture by Scott Godwin