Cynthia Weinig, professor in the Department of Botany and Department of Molecular Biology
Background: B.S. Brown University; Fulbright fellowship at University of Minnesota; Ph.D. Indiana University; postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University; faculty member at University of Minnesota; joined UW in 2007.
Why UW? “I was intrigued that the position was split between botany and molecular biology, which I thought would offer a lot of opportunities. Wyoming also offers a wonderful quality of life.”
Research: Weinig studies the traits and genes that enhance performance of plants in variable settings. This research includes both wild and crop species.
One of Weinig’s projects, done in conjunction with researchers at other institutions, examines how plants interact with organisms below ground, called the rhizosphere microbiome. This community of microorganisms exists around plant roots.
“While we largely know what plants and animals exist in a certain habitat, what’s below the ground is more of a mystery. If you look below ground, you can find thousands of microorganisms.
“As part of a new project, we will use DNA sequencing to understand the taxonomic composition of the microbiome—what species are there, as well as a functional analysis to tell us what function those microbes are performing, such as improving nitrogen accessibility and water availability. It turns out that if you grow plants in the absence of a complete and complex microbiome, they have reduced performance.
“We’re also going to grow plants in the presence and absence of their natural rhizosphere microbiome and ask how that changes plant gene expression. That should give us very good clues as to why the presence of microbes in soil affects plant performance.”
About the Science Initiative: “It’s really an exceptional opportunity. We’re fortunate the Legislature appreciates the university and realizes it’s truly a training ground for the citizens—a place where we can provide research to benefit the state, educate our students and also raise the profile of the state in many ways.”
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