Plant and Microbial Biosciences

Petra Levin, PhD
George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg Professor
- Email: plevin@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Research summary
Bacterial growth and antibiotic susceptibility
Key words
Bacterial, growth size, antibiotics, tolerance, antibiotic resistance, systems biology, cytoskeleton, biochemistry, microbiology, microscopy

Fangqiong Ling, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: fangqiong@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Computational and Systems Biology
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Research summary
A computational and experimental lab studying bacterial colonization and transmission at the boundary of built and natural environments and exploring microbiomes as environmental sensors and public health sentinels
Key words

Elizabeth Mallott, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: mallott@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Research summary
How the environment shapes host-associated microbial communities both within and across species
Key words
Gut microbiome, nonhuman primates, environmental health

Ben Mansfeld, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: bmansfeld@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Computational and Systems Biology
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Research summary
The Mansfeld Lab uses various non‑model species and a hypothesis driven, systems approach to examine how circadian rhythm, development, and tissue type impact plant defense.
Key words
Plant Pathology, Genomics, Bioinformatics, Disease Resistance

Blake Meyers, PhD
Member
- Email: bcmeyers@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
The function, biogenesis & evolution of small RNAs in plants
Key words

Dmitri Nusinow, PhD
Assistant Member
- Email: dnusinow@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Research summary
Circadian clock regulation of physiology and development in plants.
Key words
Plant Biology, circadian rhythms, biochemistry, genetics, Arabidopsis, mass spectrometry, chronobiology

Kenneth Olsen, PhD
George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg Professor
- Email: kolsen@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Research summary
Plant evolutionary biology, molecular population genetics, genetics of adaptation, phylogeography
Key words
evolution, genetics, plant biology, population genetics, molecular evolution


Himadri Pakrasi, PhD
George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg Professor
- Email: pakrasi@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
Systems and Synthetic Biology of photosynthetic organisms
Key words
Bioenergy, membrane proteins, photosynthesis, redox processes, systems biology, synthetic biology

Sona Pandey, PhD
Assistant Member
- Email: sonapandey@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Research summary
To understand how plants perceive and respond to abiotic stress
Key words
heterotrimeric G-proteins, abscisic acid, G-proteins, molecular genetics, biochemistry, genomics, proteomics, protein-protein interactions