| |
|
|
|
|
Karyna Rosario Email: krosariocora@gmail.com Phone: (727) 553-3930; FAX: (727) 553-1189
Project: Viruses in Reclaimed Water Agricultural irrigation places enormous demands on natural groundwater supplies. With well water for crop production in Florida becoming more and more restricted, finding alternative water sources for irrigation has become a priority. The use of reclaimed water helps decrease the amount of withdrawals from natural aquifers and as such is economically advantageous to growers. The acreage of crops irrigated with reclaimed sewage water is increasing every year. However, the presence of plant pathogens, particularly viruses, in reclaimed water is largely unknown. We have recently shown that plant viruses are abundant in human feces, suggesting that reclaimed water may be a possible reservoir and dissemination mechanism for pathogenic plant viruses. This may also be a hitherto unknown mechanism for the introduction of exotic plant viruses into Florida. As reclaimed water use in crop production becomes more widespread, it is necessary to understand the implications this might have for growers. The purpose of this project is to characterize RNA and DNA viruses present in reclaimed water, with particular emphasis on detecting plant pathogenic viruses that may be detrimental to crop production. During the course of this project, we will use microscopy to compare the total concentration of viruses in reclaimed water with that of groundwater and raw sewage, and use culture-based and molecular methods to identify plant pathogenic viruses present in both raw sewage and reclaimed water. We will identify viruses through metagenomic (whole community genomic) sequencing to characterize the types of viral sequences found in reclaimed water (collaboration with Yijun Ruan and Christina Nilsson at the Genome Institute of Singapore). This approach will give us a good idea of what viruses are present in this alternative water supply without having prior knowledge of their existence. Through a collaboration with Jane Polston at the University of Florida and Scott Adkins from the USDA, the infectious nature of the viruses detected in raw sewage and reclaimed water will be established by inoculation of indicator plants with virus extracts from raw sewage and reclaimed water. Collectively, this information can be used to determine if there are potential risks for those who use reclaimed water for crop irrigation. Publications: Rosario, K., S. L. Iverson, D. A. Henderson, S. Chartrand, C. McKeon, E. P. Glenn, and R. M. Maier. 2007. Bacterial community changes during plant establishment at the San Pedro River mine tailings site. J Env. Qual. 36: 1249-1259.Van Alstyne K.L., K.N. Pelletreau, and K. Rosario. 2003. The effects of salinity on DMSP production in the green alga Ulva fenestrata (Chlorophyta). Bot. Mar. 46: 650-356. Presentations: Invited talk Rosario, K and M. Breitbart. 2008. Metagenomics for viral
discovery: Surprises around every corner. American Society for Microbiology
108th General Meeting, Boston, MA. Honors: 1st Place Student Presentation Award (College of Marine Science Graduate Student Symposium 2008) 3rd Place Outstanding Student Presentation Award (Florida Branch American Society for Microbiology 2007 Annual Meeting) Successful Latina Student Award (2007) St. Petersburg Progress Endowed Fellowship (2007-2008) Alfred P. Sloan Minority Ph. D. Fellowship (2007) NSF Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship (2006-2008) Latin American/Caribbean Scholarship (2006-2010) NSF Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship (2006), Latin American/Caribbean Scholarship (2006),
|
|
|
