Unravel the secrets of soil using molecular biology

Abstract: Soil is very complex with diverse niches offered to soil microorganisms. Soil microbiologists consider it as Black box, as it was realized that simply extracting soils and counting microorganisms is not enough to characterize the soil microbiota and its significance for the functioning of soils. New windows open up with the advances of molecular biology in order to investigate soil microbial communities and their functioning. This presentation will be focusing on the advancement of molecular biology as a boon to soil microbiologists and also how will I use this boon to solve my research question “How to kill this Humongous fungus???”

Speaker: I, Dixi Ghael, am a Biotechnologist with specailization in Molecular Microbiology. I completed my Masters of Science in Biotechnology from Univeristy of South Gujarat, India in 2012. After my graduation, I joined CSIR- Central salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute in India, as a Research Scholar in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Lab. I worked there for a year and pursued research in the area of Molecular microbiology under project “Plant Microbe Soil Interactions.” I started my Masters in September, 2015 in Soil Science under the supervision of Dr. Suzanne Simard and I am particulary interested in investigating below ground processes and understanding the microbiological interactions and health of conifer trees in regards to Armillaria fungus.