User:Shridevi Singh

I am an undergraduate student at Queens college, CUNY soon to graduate June 2010. I will be writing about Magnaporthe grisea as an assignment for my General Microbiology 201 class. It is my undertaking to describe the biology as well as the pathology and the various characteristics of this fungus. I have a strong background in research and am currently in a NSF URM program here at Queens college with Dr. Else J Fjerdingstad as my mentor. We are conducting a large scale multi-population study on European Lasius ants to test a diverse series of local environmental selective factors vs. phylogenetic constraints for the evolution of queen mating strategies. My role in this study is focused on the reconstruction of the phylogenetic realations of different L.niger sub-populations using mtDNA. In particular, the cytochrome oxidase I gene which is ~1250 bps long. It is our goal to test whether similarities in queens mating strategie are due to co-ancestry or represents convergent evolution which could suggest local adaptation. I truly have a passion of research and the anticipation of results as well as the learning process, i find very intriguing. However, my true passion is to pursue a career in medicine (mainly surgery). I anticipate to successfully realize my goals in life into reality and with much hard work and support from dear ones i see no other outcome. Lastly, i'd like to add that i am a hard working student and try my best to live life the best way i can.