With the increased usage of high throughput sequencing, and the growing popularity of the phytobiome concept in plant pathology, it has become clear that single infections of pathogens are more rare than originally thought. Mixed infections (e.g. virus-virus, virus-bacteria, etc.) are common and in general not well understood. The impacts of multiple infections on the pathogens themselves, and on the plant, in the context of different environmental conditions is an interesting area of research for us.
Blackberry is a good system for studying multiple infections because caneberries are magnets for viruses. It seems as though viruses accumulate, the number of viruses (rather than specifically which ones are present) affects disease expression. We are interested in using this system to better understand how unrelated viruses come together to cause disease.
We are also working on virus-bacteria interactions in peach trees! This is an exciting new area of research for us and we will update with new information as we learn more.
Blackberry is a good system for studying multiple infections because caneberries are magnets for viruses. It seems as though viruses accumulate, the number of viruses (rather than specifically which ones are present) affects disease expression. We are interested in using this system to better understand how unrelated viruses come together to cause disease.
We are also working on virus-bacteria interactions in peach trees! This is an exciting new area of research for us and we will update with new information as we learn more.