Miss Gaby Carstensen

MSc Student
Phytobacteriology

Research Interests

I became part of the FABI family when I started my honours degree in 2009. My honours project focused on the diversity of bacterial endophytes in the Shepherds tree (Boscia albitrunca). For this project I used both culturing and Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) to identify the different genera of bacterial endophytes that were in the leaves and stems of the Shepherds tree.

For my Masters degree I will be working with nodule-forming bacterial endophytes found in Pavetta sp. commonly known as the brides bush. I will specifically be looking at four indigenous species of Pavetta, namely P. lanceolata, P. edentula, P. schummaniana and P. harborii. From these four species of Pavetta I will be attempting to isolate the nodule-forming bacterial endophyte.