Frank Dazzo
- Professor
- Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
- 6174 Biomedical Physical Sciences
- 517-884-5394
- dazzo@msu.edu
WEBSITE
Website: https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/dazzo_frank_b
BIOGRAPHY
I conduct basic and applied research on beneficial plant-bacteria associations of agricultural importance, especially those involving the nitrogen-fixing bacterium, Rhizobium. A main focus has been on elucidating the events leading to successful infection of clover roots by the Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii microsymbiont, and the subsequent development of nitrogen-fixing root nodules. We also investigate a newly described natural association between Rhizobium and cereals (e.g., rice and wheat), and are exploring ways to increase cereal production under real-world agronomic conditions by exploiting the benefits of this plant-microbe association. A second research focus is the development of CMEIAS, a new generation of interactive computer software that combines the resolving power of microscopy with digital image analysis to strengthen microscopy-based approaches for understanding microbial ecology in situ at single cell resolution. Various natural and managed communities and a wide range of digital microscopies are being used for that work.