Treating plants with plastic: Macromolecular therapies to combat infections in palnts

Title : Treating plants with plastic: Macromolecular therapies to combat infections in palnts

Abstract:

Continuous population growth places a great demand on the sustainable farming practices and effective crop disease management. Breeding of varieties with higher crop yield is usually accompanied with higher susceptibility to pathogens and production in monocultures promotes pathogen spread. Here we demonstrate an application of polymer-based therapy for mitigation of infectious diseases in plants. The design, synthesis and evaluation of antimicrobial activity in plant tissue is discussed. Effects of macromolecular therapy on soil microbiome are evaluated.

Biography:

Dr. Victoria Piunova is a research staff member at IBM Almaden Research Center. She earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Southern California conducted post-doctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Piunova’s current research interests are focused on the development of materials for biological and biomedical applications.