I started working with microarrays during my BSc Biotechnology (Honours) degree in 2006. I investigated plant-pathogen interactions between the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the soil-borne pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, searching for early disease induced genes in the plant. After the completion of this degree I was offered a technical assistant post in the Microarray lab of Prof Dave Berger under the supervision of Dr. Antoinette van Schalkwyk. The project forms part of a EU-funded consortium investigating health traits in tomatoes. Our contribution to the consortium would be to identify markers associated with health traits in introgression lines made from a cross between Solanum lycopersicum (previously known as Lycopersicon esculentum) and a wild tomato species Solanum pennellii. The method used is Diversity Arrays Technology which was the brainchild of Andrzej Kilian who went on to create the company Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd in Australia. 

 

In addition, I am also currently investigating the phylogenetic relationships between the members of the Solanum nigrum complex. The black nightshades, which are part of this complex, are an emerging, important food source in parts of Africa, where both leaves and ripe fruits are consumed. By determining the relationships between species it would be possible to initiate breeding programs to select for increased fruit size, more fruits per plant and improved general health traits.