User:David Johnston Monje/Project

Objective 1: Survey natural varation of microbes found inside corn seed and plants.
A) Survey diversity and physiological relevance of corn seed endophytes from ancient and modern varieties of zea germplasm.

B) Survey diversity and physiological relevance of soil transmitted endophytes.

Objective 2: Genetically modify endophytic microbes to alter the outcomes of the plant::microbe relationship
A) GFP tag and characterize endophyte behaviour "in planta", including corn and potato to select candidate bacteria for further testing (how long do they maintain plasmid without selection, what plant tissue do they colonize, do endophytes exit the plant into the rhizosphere, can they use arabinose as induction signal molecule)

B) Test 3 different plant growth modifying traits on bleach sterilized corn and potatoes in sterile tubes with high levels of arabinose in the media.