Ram Neupane

My PhD research has two components: plant pathology and international agriculture and development. For my plant pathology research component, I am exploring three aspects of bacterial diseases of onion. First, I completed three-year bacterial survey of onion fields in Pennsylvania (PA) and New York (NY). The major objective of this is to identify and characterize the bacteria associated with symptomatic onion leaves and bulbs in PA and NY. Second, I aim to assess whether the bacteria isolated from symptomatic onion bulbs and leaves cause disease (pathogenic) or not (non-pathogenic). This is based on the hypothesis that not all bacteria associated with symptomatic onion leaves and bulbs are pathogenic. Third, I aim to assess the copper tolerance of pathogenic strains of bacteria. I am using whole genome sequencing (WGS) and comparative genomics to explore genetic basis of copper tolerance in Burkholderia strains collected from PA and NY onion fields.

For INTAD research component, I am using system thinking approach to investigate the perceptions of vegetable growers regarding wastewater irrigation in Kathmandu, Nepal.