ICGEB Cape Town Plant Systems Biology researchers Dr Temilola Aina and Dr Shannon-Leigh Sparks have recently been awarded prestigious South African National Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships, supporting their research in plant sciences.
Dr Aina and Dr Sparks are postdoctoral researchers in the Plant Systems Biology Group led by Dr Lara Donaldson in Cape Town. The Group studies salinity stress adaptation using Arabidopsis as a model as well as economically important crops, such as maize and sorghum. In addition, it investigates the role of the microbiome in yield and stress tolerance in sorghum.
Temilola’s research focuses on microbial genomics, plant-microbe interactions, and sustainable agriculture, and how the genetic makeup of plant-associated microbes impacts plant health and stress resilience. Her NRF funded research focuses on enhancing the resistance of sorghum to Striga (witchweed), a major constraint to crop productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Temilola will use metagenomics to investigate microbial communities and identify functional genes that could be engineered to improve sorghum’s resilience against this parasitic weed. Integrating metagenomic data with host-microbe interactions will enable Dr Aina to identify microbial candidates for biocontrol and develop microbial inoculants that can enhance sorghum’s resistance to Striga, ultimately contributing to sustainable agriculture.
In addition, Temilola is investigating Pseudomonas syringae, a plant pathogen responsible for diseases in a range of economically significant crops. She will be using publicly available genome data to develop reproducible bioinformatics pipelines that can distinguish strains with high pathogenic potential from those with lower virulence. By identifying the genetic factors underlying virulence, Temilola aims to uncover the evolutionary mechanisms driving pathogen emergence.
Dr Sparks’s research focuses on understanding how plants respond to biotic stress, with a particular focus on fungal pathogens. Shannon is particularly interested in the molecular and physiological mechanisms that underpin plant immune responses.
Shannon explains that in natural and agricultural environments plants frequently encounter biotic and abiotic stress simultaneously. Therefore, her NRF funded research aims to explore the combined effects of drought, heat and pathogen stress on plant growth and productivity. This research seeks to uncover how multiple stress factors interact to influence plant health, defence responses and yield outcomes. By exploring these interactions, this work aims to contribute to the development of multi-stress tolerant crops, supporting sustainable agriculture and improving food security in the face of climate change and evolving pathogen threats.
Dr Lara Donalsdon, Group Leader, mentoring both Dr Aina and Dr Sparks adds ‘ Shannon is conducting research toward understanding plant responses to combined stresses which is increasingly important in the face of climate change and Temilola is conducting research that will enable gene discovery for microbial control of striga, the parasitic weed which causes massive yield losses in sorghum and maize. I am privileged to have two excellent female postdoctoral researchers in the laboratory and to be able to help them establish themselves as independent researchers. In addition, they are valuable members of my research group as they are mentoring younger students in the lab’.
