Left to right: Nick Talmo, Grace Petzold, Ji Hyun Kim, Ashish Ranjan, Kay Lerohl, Kriti Tyagi, Tatum Johnson
Dr. Ashish Ranjan | Principal Investigator
he/him/his
Dr. Ashish Ranjan is a molecular plant pathologist and faculty in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Dr. Ranjan's research interests involve understanding the dynamics of fungal and bacterial pathogen biology, its virulence mechanisms, epidemiology, and host plants' resistance/susceptibility mechanism using comparative genomics, biochemical, cell biology, and molecular biology approaches. His research includes on-farm research involving growers to find sustainable control strategies for crop disease problems. Currently, his research team is investigating the role of phenylpropanoid pathway genes in soybean resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and also looking into other genetic resistance resources for verticillium wilt and common scab in potatoes. Dr. Ranjan earned his Ph.D. in molecular plant-microbe interaction from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India, followed by post-doctoral training at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Dr. Ranjan also teaches two upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level courses, molecular plant-microbe interaction (PLPA8103/5103) and current topics in molecular plant pathology (PLPA5300).
Dr. Kriti Tyagi | Postdoctoral Researcher
she/her/hers
Dr. Kriti Tyagi is a post-doctoral researcher working with Dr. Ashish Ranjan in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Dr. Tyagi has a Ph.D. degree in plant-microbe interaction from the National institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, India where she worked on the identification and characterization of pathogenicity determinants of sheath blight disease. Her research interests involve understanding mechanisms involved in the resistance/susceptibility of host plants using transcriptomics, comparative genomics, gene editing, microbiology, and molecular biology approaches. Her research has been published in good peer-reviewed journals. Currently, she is working on understanding the genetic diversity and identifying genetic sources of resistance against verticillium wilt and common scab in potatoes. The research aims to help growers and farmers to find solutions for enhancing disease resistance in crops.
Nick Talmo | Doctoral Student
he/him/his
Nick Talmo is a Master’s student in the Department of Plant Pathology with a Research Assistantship in Dr. Ashish Ranjan’s Lab. Nick achieved a B.S. in Biochemistry at Augsburg University, focusing on plant-microbe interactions. During his undergraduate degree, he worked under Dr. Ann Impullitti, a UMN Plant Path Alum, on understanding the effects of fungicidal seed treatments on endophytic fungi of soybeans. His current work aims to understand the molecular interactions between soybean and the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. This project has two main goals, first is to identify and characterize genes within the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway involved in resistant response. Second, is screening commercial and UMN breeding program soybean lines for resistance to S. sclerotiorum in field and growth chamber trials. This work aims to identify genes that can be used to bioengineer soybean lines with improved resistance and to understand the resistance levels of currently grown varieties to help growers and breeders with effective variety selection in the immediate term.
Ji Hyun (Jay) Kim | Master's Student
he/him/his
Jay Kim is a Master’s student in the Department of Plant Pathology with a Research Assistantship in Dr. Ashish Ranjan’s lab. Jay received his B.S. in Plant Science at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2019, focusing on plant genetics and pathology. During his undergraduate program, he worked as a student researcher in the Plant Disease Clinic and Legume Molecular Biology lab. After his undergraduate he worked as an Operation Specialist at the University of Minnesota Genomics Center, mainly conducting DNA and RNA extraction from various biological samples. After three years of his work experience at the Genomics Center, he decided to start his Master’s program to start his own research. His current research objectives are to understand the role of the soybean cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase gene in soybean and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum interaction. Another aspect of his research includes characterizing the components of exosomes of soybean and S. sclerotiorum interaction and identify compounds or small RNA that could contribute to resistance/susceptibility of the soybean against S. sclerotiorum.
Kirsten (Kay) Lerohl | Master's Student
she/her/hers
Kay Lerohl completed her B.S. in Biochemistry in 2023 at the University of Minnesota. She is currently investigating Verticillium species, races, phylogeny, and load in naturally infected potato fields in Minnesota and managing the corresponding resistance screening field studies. She aims to identify resistant potato lines and resistance/virulence markers within the pathosystem that can be exploited for crop improvement or other applications. A proud LGBTQ+ and nontraditional student, she is the recipient of the CFANS Diversity Fellowship and plans to begin her Master's degree in Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota this fall.
Grace Petzold | Undergraduate Researcher
she/her/hers
Grace Petzold is an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota pursuing a Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development B.S. with a minor in Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management. In the lab, she works with Streptomyces spp. in determining potential pathogenicity genes to identify pathogenic and nonpathogenic species or methods of resistance for potatoes and other affected crops. When not in class or the lab, Grace plays the flute in the University of Minnesota Marching Band and enjoys hammocking as well as weightlifting.
Tatum Johnson | Undergraduate Researcher
she/her/hers
Tatum Johnson is an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota pursuing a Plant
Science B.S. focused on Plant Breeding. She works as a lab assistant within the Ranjan Lab
on campus. Tatum aids lab staff with the ongoing Streptomycetes or common scab research
and Verticillium wilt within potatoes. She also participates in fieldwork during the summer.
Outside of academics, she’s part of the Astronomy club on campus and loves to cook.