Raka Mitra, Assistant Professor of Biology, has been awarded $450,000 from the National Science Foundation’s Biology Division of Integrative Organismal Systems for her three-year project, “RUI: The Role of ralstonia solanacearum Effector Protein RSP1281 in Bacterial Wilt Disease.”

This RUI (Research in Undergraduate Institutions) grant enables Mitra to investigate a root-invading bacterial wilt pathogen to better determine plant defense pathways employed in roots, gaining insights useful for developing wilt resistant crops. The project supports the PI’s research, an undergraduate researcher in each summer, a technician year round; and it gives opportunity for students in Carleton’s Cell Biology Laboratory and Molecular Biology classes to gain important research lab experiences.