Ben Mansfeld’s research focuses on cucumber resistance to Phytophthora capsici (a fungus-like plant disease that affects many crops including cucurbits). In the Grumet Lab, researchers have screened over 1300 different cucumber varieties from around the world to try to identify natural sources of disease resistance. Through this process, they identified an age-related resistance; young cucumber fruit are highly susceptible to the disease, while older fruit become more resistant. Mansfeld is attempting to understand which genes are involved in conferring this age-related resistance to Phytophthora capsici by utilizing genome (DNA) and transcriptome (RNA) sequencing.
