Saleh Rahimlou

I’m interested in fungal and bacterial biodiversity using state-of-the-art high-throughput sequencing technologies. In particular, I’m doing research on the evolution of trophy status within the Ceratobasidiaceae fungal family. It is a family of important plant pathogens, saprotrophs, and orchid mycorrhizal species. I have sequenced genomes of different anastomosis groups in collaboration with the DOE Joint Genome Institute for constructing a robust phylogeny of the family based on genome sequences and utilizing bioinformatic tools to decipher the evolution of different trophic statuses within the family. In addition, I’m studying nitrogen fixation and nodulation occurrence in certain plant species that are outliers to the currently known nitrogen-fixing clade. My research involves sampling and generating metagenomic data from root nodules of Zygophyllaceae and Arecaceae plant families. The aim of the project is to explain the origin of nodulation occurrence in angiosperms using multi-omics techniques and modern microscopy.