Mrs Ancel Stewart

MSc Student

Research Interests

I am working on the plant pathogenic bacteria Pantoea ananatis and its survival in the environment for my Masters study. Pantoea is part of the family Enterobacteriaceae and is a Gram negative facultative anaerobic microorganism. Other species within the genus include P. stewartii, P. agglomerans, P. citrea, P. dispersa, P. punctata and P. terrea and they are isolated from soil, fruit and vegetables. In 1998, Couthino et al. described bacterial blight and dieback in eucalyptus trees in a nursery in Pietermaritzburg, caused by Pantoea ananatis.

 

Currently I am trying to find out what endophytes are present in the leaves of Eucalyptus</em> trees and if Pantoea ananatis is also part of the endophyte population. In order to answer this question I am using a culturing approach as well as Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis.</p>