Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Heena Yadav

Heena Yadav, first author of Medicago Terpene Synthase 10 is involved in defense against an oomycete pathogen

Current Position: Guest Scientist at Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Halle (Saale)

Education: Ph.D. student in Plant Biochemistry (2014-2018), Department of Cell and Metabolic Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Halle (Saale), M.Sc. in Life Sciences (2012-2014), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New-Delhi, India

Non-Scientific interests: Badminton, table tennis, Zumba, cooking, paper quelling, and hiking

Brief-bio: Plants have always fascinated me, initially as a child through their lush green leaves, pretty flowers and delicious fruits and later during master studies, as complex organisms. Amongst different courses offered during the master studies, I was intrigued mainly by plant biology courses.  I further pursued this interest by obtaining an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to conduct research research with Prof. Bettina Hause in Germany. During my doctoral studies, I investigated the differential response of plants to beneficial and pathogenic soil microbes using transcriptomics, molecular biology, genetic engineering and metabolomics approaches. The primary focus of my research was to characterize the role of a terpene synthase in defense against the pathogen, Aphanomyces euteiches.