Makenzie Meikle

Student NameMakenzie Meikle

Faculty Mentor NameKevin Begcy PhD

CollegeCollege of Agricultural and Life Sciences

MajorBiology

MinorBioinformatics

Research InterestsGene expression, plant breeding, RNA-seq, bioinformatics

Academic AwardsUniversity Scholars Program 2020

Organizationsn/a

Hobbies and InterestsCollecting houseplants, playing violin

Research Project

Transcriptomic Comparison of the Necrotrophic Fungus Fusarium graminearum and the Biotrophic Fungus Ustilago maydis During Maize Silk Infection?

To explore how Zea mays’ reproductive structures react to common fungi that affect crop yield, we hope to elucidate how F. graminearum and U. maydis infect maize silks using transcriptome analysis and attempt to identify novel biological pathways of pathogen infection.