Ryoko Oono

Biography

I'm an evolutionary ecologist focusing on plant-microbe interactions. I went to Carleton College for my B. A. and then to University of Minnesota - Twin Cities for my Ph. D. in plant biology. My dissertation focused on the evolutionary stability of the legume-rhizobia symbiosis. As a postdoctoral fellow of NIH’s Molecular Mycology and Pathogenesis Training Program at Duke University and NC State University, I studied foliar fungal endophytes and their relationships with pine hosts in southeastern U.S.

Research

My research is focused on understanding how symbiotic associations evolve, particularly between plant hosts or communities and bacterial or fungal microbes. The lab uses observational approaches with various genetic tools (population genetics, community genetics, systematics, biogeography) as well as experimental approaches by manipulating microbial phenotypes, microbial or host communities, or the environment. Model systems currently studied are the ecologically important legume-rhizobia symbioses and the ubiquitous and highly diverse foliar fungal endophytes found in all major lineages of plants.

Background

Where I am today is a product of history, community, opportunity, and legacy, a web of advantages and inheritances, that I do not necessarily deserve or that I did not necessarily earn. This acknowledgement of my privilege was inspired from my readings by Malcolm Gladwell.