Tuan Minh Tran: The Plant Cell First Author

Tuan Minh Tran, co-first author of “Potentiation of plant defense by bacterial outer membrane vesicles is mediated by membrane nanodomains”

Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of South Alabama

Education:

Ph.D. in Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

B.Sc. in Biotechnology, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam University of Science

Non-scientific interests:

Reading, swimming and urban sketching

Brief Bio:

Plant-pathogen interaction has long been my interest since I was an undergraduate student. This research field is especially exciting as I find it enjoyable working on interdisciplinary projects and interacting with many peers of diverse expertise. During my Ph.D. at UW-Madison, I worked in Dr. Caitilyn Allen’s laboratory and my research focused on the soil-borne pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum and the functions of its extracellular DNases in counteracting plant root extracellular DNA trap. Later, I joined Dr. Yansong Miao’s lab at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) to further explore the plant cell biology side of plant-microbe interactions. At NTU, I gained a strong interest on the interplay between bacterial virulence factors and plant plasma membranes and how these interactions influence downstream immune responses in plants. I am starting my laboratory at the University of South Alabama and excited to continue unveiling the secrets of phytopathogenic bacteria and plant immunity.