PhD Student

The Hidden World of a Barley Leaf: My PhD in the Microscopic World

Think of a leaf as a battlefield for microbes. In this tiny warzone lives a cunning and formidable pathogen: Ustilago hordei. This fungus isn’t just trying to infect barley leaf — it is fighting a war on multiple fronts to claim the leaf for itself! My PhD project is like a detective story where I get to:

•    Uncover U. hordei’s Bacterial Battle Tactics: I’m hunting for the specific antimicrobial weapons it uses to wipe out rival phyllospheric bacteria, clearing the way for its own invasion.

•    Decodes its Fungal Disputes: I’m also figuring out the molecular tricks it uses to effectively suppress the necrotrophic pathogen, Botrytis cinerea.

By understanding how this pathogenic bully wins its turf wars, we can learn how to disrupt its strategies.

Coming from Malaysia, I am excited to be part of the larger MadFungi consortium, where we’re piecing together the bigger picture of host niche adaptation used by plant-colonising fungi.

University of Cologne

CEPLAS / Institiute for Plant Sciences
Chair of Terrestrial Microbiology
Zülpicher Straße 47a
D-50674 Cologne
Tel:  +49 221-470-1960
Fax: +49 221-470-7406
Mail: hjchoo1@smail.uni-koeln.de