Carolin Frank

It is now widely recognized that microbiomes dictate many traits of their host. For example, the plant microbiome can act as a second immune system, protecting the plant against pathogens, help the host acquire nutrients, or protect against abiotic stress like drought, heat, or salinity. My lab focuses on the plant microbiome, but we are broadly interested in microbiome science and are always up for collaborating on new systems. Much of our current work involves work on plants in natural ecosystems. We use a combination of molecular/computational techniques (metagenome-, genome-, and amplicon sequencing), field-based studies, and functional assay to better understand the microbiomes of wild plants, including their function, community assembly, transmission, and dispersal.