I come from India where I did my Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Naveen Chandra Bisht at National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi. During my PhD, I have deciphered the role of G-protein signaling networks in polyploid Brassica crops during pathogen stress. In 2023, I joined the Terrestrial Microbiology lab at the University of Cologne as a psostdoctoral fellow.

Plant pathogenic smut fungi are Basidiomycetes and include several important genera including Ustilago, Tilletia, Entyloma, and Urocystis. The smut pathogen Ustilago hordei belongs to the group of Ustilaginales, members of which infect many economically important crops, including maize, wheat, barley, oat, and sugar cane. The U. hordei and other cereal smut fungi are biotrophic pathogens that depend on living hosts to proliferate. These smut fungi evolved way to suppress secondary infections in the colornized host tissue, either via the activation of plant resistance, or by direct suppression of the compatible pathogen. My aim to understand the mechanistic basis of smut-induced host resistance.

CEPLAS / Institiute for Plant Sciences
Chair of Terrestrial Microbiology
Zülpicher Straße 47a
D-50674 Cologne

Tel:  +49 221-470-7831
Fax: +49 221-470-7406
Mail:rtiwari@uni-koeln.de