Basis of vascular and non-vascular pathogenesis of plants
Pathogenic microbes such as bacteria cause vascular and non-vascular diseases of plants and limit crop production globally. Vascular pathogenic bacteria are particularly destructive because they move long distances through the host veins often leading to widespread infection or even whole host death. Non-vascular pathogens are also agriculturally important but stay restricted to the site of infection, which leads to development of small spots, specks or lesions. The basis for why some bacteria move in the vascular tissue while others remain localized to the non-vascular spaces remains unknown. Our team aims to determine the host and pathogen factors that promote tissue-specific behavior in an important group of pathogenic bacteria called Xanthomonas. We uses novel techniques in metabolomics, gene-expression, mutant analysis and microscopy to determine the basis for tissue-specificity.
Our team was recently funded by USDA NIFA (#2018-67013-28490; co-PIs, Prof. Jan Leach and Dr. Jillian Lang at Colorado State University) through the NSF-NIFA joint Plant Biotic Interactions program. This project aims to understand the basis of vascular pathogenesis of plants.
Visualization of infection and virulence
The Jacobs Lab investigates bacterial behavior during host colonization. They are developing tools to understand the genetic, metabolic and physical determinants for bacterial colonization of plant spaces. His team is using time-lapse imaging with bioreporters to understand nutrient availability during plant pathogenesis. The Jacobs Lab developed a workshop based on hands-on, active learning approaches to allow for students to explore the microbial world using plant-bacterial interactions and visualization as a model. They have hosted the workshop at the International Congress of Plant Pathology 2018 in Boston, MA.
High-throughput sequencing for diagnostics
The Jacobs’ lab is focused on translating our basic knowledge from pathogen genomics to rapid diagnostic tools for growers. Our program is using high-throughput sequencing in partnership with the OSU Vegetable Pathology (Prof. Sally Miller) and Fruit Pathology (Prof. Melanie Lewis Ivey) laboratories and the C. Wayne Ellet Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic (Dr. Joy Pierzynski) to develop a novel sequencing-based approach to swiftly identify plant pathogens limiting specialty crop production in Ohio. We aim to provide specialty crop growers across the state with a novel diagnostic tool (OHIO PATH ID) that allows for quick (1-2 days) and specific identification of long-standing plant and newly emerging plant diseases and rapid detection of emerging problems such as fungicide and antibiotic resistance in pathogen populations.
Biology and management of tropical plant disease
Bacterial wilt disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum limits crop production globally. R. solanacearum is arguably the most important bacterial pathogen due to its worldwide distribution, host range and destructive wilt symptoms. My team works closely with Prof. Sally Miller (OSU Plant Pathology) and the USAID IPM Innovation Lab to provide management solutions to small producers in South and Southeast Asia. Although likely a long-term problem, we reported bacterial wilt for the first time in Cambodia, and determined that long-bean and bitter gourd are hosts for this plant pathogenic bacterium. Understanding the biology of this pathogen and its host range will help provide informed solutions for IPM practices for farmers in Cambodia, Nepal and Bangladesh.