Welcome to the Mitchum Lab
Dr. Melissa
Goellner Mitchum is an Assistant Professor in the Division
of Plant Sciences and a member of the Integrative Plant
Biology and Integrative Genomics Programs of the
Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center,
Interdisciplinary
Plant Group, and the National
Center for Soybean Biotechnology (NCSB) at the University
of Missouri-Columbia.
 The major focus of research in the Mitchum Lab is the molecular basis
of plant-nematode interactions with an emphasis on the interaction
between the soybean cyst nematode (SCN; Heterodera glycines)
and its host plant, soybean. Sedentary endoparasitic nematodes, such
as SCN, are the most economically important group of plant-parasitic
nematodes. SCN is consistently the most damaging pest of soybeans
grown in Missouri and throughout the US, causing nearly 1 billion
in crop losses annually.
After penetrating and migrating through soybean root tissue, SCN induces
dramatic modifications of selected cells near the vasculature of the
root to form an elaborate feeding cell (called a syncytium). Growth
and development of the nematode is completely dependent on the formation
of the syncytium from which it derives nutrients. We are studying
the signal exchange that occurs between the nematode and its host
for the formation of feeding cells. In addition to soybean, we use
the Arabidopsis-beet cyst nematode pathosystem as a model system to
dissect the mechanisms of pathogenesis and feeding cell formation.
The aim of this research is to advance our understanding of the molecular
basis of pathogenicity and host resistance to cyst nematodes with
the long term goal of developing improved disease resistance strategies.
For more details of ongoing research projects click on the research
link.
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