Christie Almeyda-Becerra
Director, Micropropagation and Repository Unit
Method Road Greenhouses, Unit 4. Room 207
Bio
Christie Almeyda is the Director of the Micropropagation and Repository Unit (MPRU), Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University (NCSU). She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Plant Pathology from Washington State University, Pullman, WA and the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN; respectively. She obtained her B.S. in Biology from La Molina National Agrarian University (UNALM), Lima, Peru, her home country.
Christie is a molecular and applied plant virologist with ample experience on identification and characterization of viruses, viral disease management and application of diagnostic methods for virus detection. She is directing the MPRU since 2017 to accomplish its mission of providing clean planting stock for sweetpotatoes, berry crops and muscadine grapes through meristem tip culture and virus indexing. She has been instrumental in the development of the MPRU virus testing/diagnostics capacity, the assembling of a technical team and the expansion of collaborations within NC State and external partners. She is successfully leading MPRU operations being in charge of laboratory, greenhouse, field, funding and management activities.
Education
B.S. Biology La Molina National Agrarian University, Lima, Peru
M.S. Plant Pathology University of Minnesota
Ph.D. Plant Pathology Washington State University
Area(s) of Expertise
-Production of clean stock for sweetpotatoes, berry crops and muscadine grapes.
-Tissue culture and diagnostics techniques for production of pathogen-tested material.
-Molecular plant virus testing and identification.
The Micropropagation and Repository Unit (MPRU) is a clean center for sweetpotatoes, berries (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry) and muscadine grapes under the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN) umbrella. The mission of the MPRU is to use tissue culture to develop “clean” crop plant seedlings to sell to growers that are certified to be disease-free by the NC Crop Improvement Association (NCCIA). The program conducts research with public plant breeders to develop the latest plant cultivars as clean plant stock, and also serves as a repository of all clean plant materials developed by the MPRU.