Alexander Fast

Background

About Alexander Fast

Hello, and welcome! My name is Alex, and I'm a Florida native with a passion for sustainable agriculture and the mechanisms of the plant immune system. I graduated the University of Florida with my B.S. in Environmental Management in Agricultural and Natural Resources in 2020. I am currently a Graduate Research Assistant in Prof. Nian Wang's lab at the Citrus Research and Education Center, where I am pursuing my M.S. in Plant Pathology at the University of Florida. My thesis research will center on isolation and profiling of citrus endophytic bacteria as biocontrols for Xanthomonas citri. subsp. citri (Citrus Canker), Diaporthe citri (Citrus Melanose) and Phytophthora nicotianae (Root Rot of Citrus). I will be screening isolated citrus endophytes for their antagonism to these three phytopathogens, testing their ability in planta and then characterize the methods of antagonism with microscopy, transcriptomics and more. Discovery and application of biocontrols could yield new products or insights into sustainably controlling these devastating diseases. In addition to these skills, I am also learning molecular biology methods, such as CRISPR, gene silencing with RNAi, molecular cloning, pull-down assays and more. My primary interests center around the plant immune system. This includes screening for resistance genes, identifying downstream signaling pathways within resistance genes, studying systemic acquired resistance pathways with plant hormones/beneficial bacteria, and more. I find these intricate, interconnected pathways fascinating, and believe that a multi-varied approach combining genetic/genomic, protein and chemical tools will yield valuable insights into the mechanisms of plant immunity and defense. In addition to my scientific interests, I am also very interested in hand-on mentoring, teaching and outreach. Thus far in my graduate program, I have mentored two undergraduate students and two high-school students. In addition, I am working with a group of graduate students and post-docs to create an outreach curriculum for middle-high school students to teach them about the microscopic threats to our food supply and how we can sustainably combat them.