Posted: April 20, 2022
The Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology welcomes new postdoctoral scholar, Eoin O'Connor, who joined the Hockett lab earlier this month.
Eoin O'Connor
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology welcomes new postdoctoral scholar, Eoin O'Connor, who joined the Hockett lab earlier this month.
O'Connor’s current research focuses on the use of metaproteomics to understand the composition and function of microbial communities in mushroom substrates and how changes in these communities impact the developmental microbiome (Devome) of mushroom development.
He holds a doctorate in fungal biology and bioinformatics from Maynooth University and Teagasc (The Agriculture and Food Development Authority), Ireland, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Maynooth University, Ireland.
“We are thrilled to have Eoin join this project. His background and expertise will bring a new and valuable dimension to understanding how microbiomes influence mushroom development,” said Kevin Hockett, assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology.
As part of his research, O'Connor used a combination of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic techniques to characterize the response of Agaricus bisporus (button mushroom) to infection by a complex of viruses known collectively as mushroom virus X (MVX). He has also developed a method for visualizing MVX in the mycelium of A. bisporus using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). O'Connor has collaborated on projects where he used untargeted proteomics to profile the proteome of the major forest pathogen, Armillaria, and community dynamics of primary wood-decay fungi.
