Agricultural and Life Sciences (IFAS)
Vermerris Lab
Led by Wilfred Vermerris · Microbiology and Cell Science
What we study
The Vermerris Lab studies how to improve sorghum for renewable fuels and health-promoting compounds. They use genetics, field experiments, and CRISPR to enhance traits like nitrogen fixation, disease resistance, and stem structure.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Fieldwork
- Plants
- Bacteria & microbes
- Projects
- 3
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Nitrogen fixation in sorghum
They study how sorghum forms aerial roots to host nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Resistance against the fungal disease anthracnose
They identify genes that make sorghum resistant to the disease caused by Colletotrichum sublineola.
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Flavonoid metabolism in sorghum
They investigate genes involved in flavonoid production for plant protection and human health.
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Three Xanthomonas Cell Wall Degrading Enzymes and Sorghum Brown midrib12 Contribute to Virulence and Resistance in the Bacterial Leaf Streak Pathosystem
2025 · Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
Shows how bacteria break down sorghum leaves and how plants resist this damage.
- A Sorghum BAK1/SERK4 Homolog Functions in Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns-Triggered Immunity and Cell Death in Response to Colletotrichum sublineola Infection
2025 · Phytopathology
Identifies a gene in sorghum that helps fight a fungal disease called anthracnose.
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- Mucilage produced by aerial roots hosts diazotrophs that provide nitrogen in Sorghum bicolor
2025 · PLoS Biology
Finds nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in sorghum root mucilage, helping plants grow.
- Structural and Interactional Analysis of the Flavonoid Pathway Proteins: Chalcone Synthase, Chalcone Isomerase and Chalcone Isomerase-like Protein
2024 · International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Analyzes how proteins in plants make flavonoids, which help fight diseases.
- Dual-RNA-sequencing to elucidate the interactions between sorghum and Colletotrichum sublineola
2024 · Frontiers in Fungal Biology
Uses gene sequencing to study how sorghum and a fungus interact during infection.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
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