Michelle Heck
@VectorBioSpace
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I am a scientist studying vector-pathogen interactions using evolutionary and molecular approaches.
Ithaca, NY
Joined November 2017
Did you know there are a seemingly endless number of ways that viruses can ensure their own survival and transmission? Check out our latest pre-print led by soon-to-be graduated Steph Preising! In this work, she shows that P0, the silencing suppressor protein of PLRV, enhances
biorxiv.org
Plants defend themselves from viral infection using RNA interference (RNAi), an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that degrades viral RNA through the production of small interfering RNAs. As a...
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CSCU Assisted Pub: Grove-First: A Generalizable Framework to Evaluate Translational Solutions to Citrus Greening and Other Perennial Crop Diseases https://t.co/1kHb0julEQ Congratulations, @VectorBioSpace and all! @CornellCALS @CornellRsrch
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I’m currently furloughed so was hesitant to share work achievements but sharing a friend’s X post can’t be considered work, right? Our Grove-First paper is out in Plant Disease! This paper highlights what’s possible when growers are partners in research & not just end users.
Excited to share this work from my time at @UFIFAS_IRREC, part of a @USDA project led by Dr. Heck (@VectorBioSpace). The Grove-First framework flips the lab-to-field pipeline, testing therapies directly in groves to speed up solutions for citrus greening. https://t.co/z8PzTpXLht
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Today, my special topics course had @Maddie_flasco share her grad studies research on 🍇 red blotch virus and exciting epidemiological and translational knowledge within CA vineyards and its tiny insect vector, the three cornered alfalfa hopper
Last Friday, my vector-borne plant pathosystems special topics course had @osse_de84469, an expert on geminiviruses and their vectors, to talk about this fascinating virus family and its interesting broad vector range and interactions
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Our colleagues at @michiganstateu presented on IR-4's blueberry work at a field day held September 25 at the Trevor Nichols Research Center. Read more in this story by #msucanr: https://t.co/ZZ4rCJJ1FS.
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Last Friday, my vector-borne plant pathosystems special topics course had @osse_de84469, an expert on geminiviruses and their vectors, to talk about this fascinating virus family and its interesting broad vector range and interactions
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Are you an international scholar interested in coming to Blacksburg, VA to work with TPSC or @VTFoodSystems? We are accepting applications for the Global Distinction Fellow Program until November 3, 2025! Scan the QR code for more information.
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✅✅ A reminder by Dr. Rahaf Ajaj: She wasn’t on the Stanford list… but she made it to the Nobel stage. 🏅 Mary E. Brunkow, one of this year’s Nobel Prize winners in Medicine, has only 34 published papers and an H-index of 21. She never appeared in Stanford’s ranking of the
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Exciting week ahead! Dr. Hallman, former student from my old lab at UF and now a postdoc at UF/IFAS IRREC, is coming to Aggieland for a guest lecture, a seminar (lots of great talk about Florida citrus), and of course, the big game: Florida Gators vs. Texas Aggies! WHOOP! 🍊🏈🌿
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Editor’s Pick: @_brandon_roy_ et al. present a first report of a soilborne virus modifying both the RSA of a plant host and transmission by its dagger nematode via a single viral amino acid. Read the open access article: https://t.co/I68gGfMpY9
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Dr. Libby Cieniewicz (Clemson Univ.) joins host Matt Kasson to explore plant virology, fruit crop virus ecology, managing disease vectors & supporting grad student-led associations. 🔗 Listen now: https://t.co/lRtTKbDn8Z
#PlantScience #Virology 👉 https://t.co/PB2GV1lN3W
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We farewelled @CollazoOnias after 6 months where he got not only go trained in 🦠 infectious clones and vector biology,but he also contributed significantly to our program. Pics also of the farewell party last Friday with the extended lab members.The best is yet to come for Onias
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It was an honor to teach in @AOV_OlmedoVelar ‘s course at @IowaStateU yesterday! One of the best parts of my job is being a part of the career advancement of the talented scientists developing their careers in my program. It feels special for me to stay connected to them in their
This fall, I am teaching a special topic graduate course on vector-borne plant pathosystems, and today we had the amazing @VectorBioSpace as an invited speaker to talk about her exicitint ongoing projects and efforts to control 🍊 greening
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What are the odds? 🤯 A second paper out today—this time in @PlantDiseaseJ revealing a new source of clubroot resistance in Arabidopsis! 🌱🛡️ Congratulations Melaine González García (@mel25448778) 🎉! Another super cool story also part of her PhD will come out later this year!
apsjournals.apsnet.org
Clubroot, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, poses a persistent threat to Brassicaceae crops, particularly in regions where resistant cultivars are under strong selection pressure. To identify new...
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Colonies of Planococcus citri working at full capacity. Great presence of inmatures & males mating young females, no parasitized colonies in spite of releases of Anagyrus vladimir. Top efficacy of treatments (biologicals or not) only arrives at 65% T+7, 50% T+14 & 28% T+21 days.
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Congratulations to Dr. Tara McHugh!! 🎉🎉 As USDA-ARS Pacific West Area director, McHugh appears in Forbes 50 Over 50 "Meet the Women Who Define Innovation, Drive, and Hope." Thank you for your contributions to Agricultural Research! https://t.co/3zZyz78pAw
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Today in Honolulu, four APS Early Career members presented their virology research at #PlantHealth2025 in the Schroth Faces of the Future Symposium. Learn more about their presentations in the full schedule or the mobile app: https://t.co/8dx3abPx8r
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Attendees had a chance to explore the posters at #PlantHealth2025 during yesterday’s Opening Reception. Today’s hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Authors present from 3:45 to 5:15 p.m. See the full schedule: https://t.co/Mja7NNTf1o
#planthealth #research
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Join us in celebrating the early-career visionaries at #PlantHealth2025! Don’t miss this year’s speakers of the Schroth Faces of the Future Symposium: Virology on August 4. View the full program and register: https://t.co/huYmfqJ4jr
#facesofthefuture #plantpathology #virology
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