Project description:The primary objective of this prospective observational study is to characterize the gut and oral microbiome as well as the whole blood transcriptome in gastrointestinal cancer patients and correlate these findings with cancer type, treatment efficacy and toxicity. Participants will be recruited from existing clinical sites only, no additional clinical sites are needed.
Project description:Comparative genomics including the basal pathogen Peronospora belbahrii reveal common evolutionary patterns and the monophyly of downy mildews in a paraphyletic Phytophthora
Project description:Basil downy mildew (BDM) caused by Peronospora Belbahrii leads to losses in sweet basil cultivation across the world. Though resistant cultivars of basil exist, the formation of sterile offspring and the introduction of unwanted phenotypic and chemotypic traits slows breeding. Previous work by the Simon lab at Rutgers University identified pair of sweet basil cultivars; one resistant to BDM, MRI, and one susceptible, SB22. They predicted that three genes in MRI confer increased BDM resistance. RNA from infected MRI and SB22 plants was harvested during the first 3 days of infection at 4 timepoints in order to capture as many early phases of plant-pathogen interaction as possible. The goal is to develop resistance markers for use in breeding experiments.