Jesse Lasky
Pennsylvania State University, PA·Plant Science & Agriculture
Dodder (Cuscuta) is a parasitic plant that has no roots or leaves of its own. Instead, it wraps around other plants and draws nutrients from them.
- Fields
Plant Science & Agriculture
Ecology & Evolution
Genetics
- Topics
Cuscuta
dodder
parasitic plants
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Oct 2027
What they work on
- Profile the diversity of trans-species microRNAs, small RNAs that dodder sends into host plants, across Cuscuta populations, and identify their host mRNA targets using small RNA sequencing and host transcriptome assemblies.
- Resequence C. campestris and C. gronovii genomes and apply population genetic inference to find which evolutionary processes shaped miRNA diversity and host-specific genes.
- Determine how genetic variation in dodder alters its gene expression and its success at attaching to different host species, using microscopy and RNA sequencing.
- Identify dodder-resistant blueberry cultivars and test whether overwintering dodder drives infestations in the following year.
More about the research
It causes major crop losses in the US and worldwide. Pest dodders can attack many host species, yet they often prefer certain hosts and grow better on some than others. This suggests that some dodder populations are genetically adapted to particular hosts. This collaborative project asks how agriculturally important dodder species manage to parasitize such a wide range of hosts. It focuses on the two most common species in the northeastern US, C. campestris and C. gronovii.
Why it matters
Dodder causes serious crop losses for farmers in the US and around the world. Learning the genetic basis of dodder's host preferences, including the small RNAs it uses against host genes, could guide control strategies. Identifying dodder-resistant blueberry cultivars and the role of overwintering dodder could give growers practical tools to limit infestations.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Joaquin Nunez
University of Vermont, VT·Ecology & Evolution
Quantify genetic variation in cold tolerance, overwintering survival, and post-winter reproduction in Drosophila suzukii from Vermont and Kentucky, and measure how these traits shift between summer and winter morphs.
Kathleen Lotterhos
Northeastern University, MA·Ecology & Evolution·Early-career
Quantify genetic variation in cold tolerance, overwintering survival and post-winter reproduction, and the reaction norms of these traits in summer and winter morphs, using Drosophila suzukii flies from Vermont and Kentucky.
Malcolm Maden
University of Florida, FL·Biology
Determine whether the spiny mouse heart truly regenerates after a heart attack through cardiomyocyte division, using tissue staining for fibrosis, cell division and cell death, compared with lab mice.
The school
Pennsylvania State University: 60 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 743 research doctorates a year.
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