Very happy that we were able to communicate findings of this three-year project. Eric and Rishi worked hard to optimize the protocol of getting high quality total microbial DNA from tomato/pepper/weed samples from the fields in Alabama. Shotgun metagenomics on total DNA allowed us to obtain quantitative assessment of pathogen populations in the tomato/pepper/weed phyllosphere. We discuss the importance of looking at pathogen metapopulation structure in the infected fields to understand adaptive potential of the pathogen. A huge thank you to Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Association, the growers and extension agents across Alabama for their help in getting samples for the past two years! The funding support for this project came from AAES and USDA-NIFA hatch project.
