Undergraduate Honors Research Project

Responses to drought and flooding in tomato root polymer suberin

In my final year at UC Davis, I executed independent project investigating how tomato roots change their polymer composition to cope with water stresses in Dr. Siobhan Brady’s lab.

Scientific specifics: Executed independent research project investigating suberin response to water stresses. Analyzed root exodermal composition of suberin and lignin by confocal microscopy and image analysis. Identified tomato genes responsible for suberin biosynthesis and regulation using CRISPR/Cas9 in conjunction with hairy root transformation system.