Trino Ascencio-Ibáñez
Teaching Professor
Co-Director of Undergraduate Program, Undergraduate Research Coordinator, Park Faculty Scholar, Global Faculty
Polk Hall 132
919-515-5724 jtascenc@ncsu.eduBio
I am interested in understanding the response of the plant to a viral infection, so my lab studies virus-plant interactions using a variety of methods and plant-virus models.
Geminiviruses are the main subject of my research and arabidopsis is the plant model we favored, but we also do research in tomato, cassava and N. benthamiana. However, we also study potyviruses (Cassava brown streak disease) and use other viruses as vehicles for gene silencing (TRV for arabidopsis and tomato). We are also interested in using multispectral systems to scan leaves and identify early signatures of virus presence (way earlier than the onset of symptoms) to properly rogue or eliminate viral dispersion.
Our grants study virus evolution and diversity (PIRE-NSF) or molecules enhancing symptoms and mechanisms for resistance (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). We also have direct links with industry trying to define how to use aptamers to induce resistance against viruses in tomato (MicroPEP) or using small chemicals to inhibit replication functions (Atomwise).
Our Biochemistry Undergraduate Research and Training Program (BURT-P) hosts undergraduate researchers that are doing incredible work, among them:
They are investigating how geminivirus induces senescence in arabidopsis, using tubulin-GFP fusions to visualize the effect of different viruses in the leaves.
Another group is pursuing understanding the involvement of CDKs (Cyclin-dependent kinase like) in Arabidopsis response to geminivirus infection.
They are also using NMR to define binding properties of small molecules to Rep, a protein absolutely necessary for geminivirus replication.
Furthermore, they are also characterizing infectious clones of several geminiviruses using a small tomato variety (Lanai).
Our graduate students are determining the involvement of Arabidopsis response regulator 7 (ARR7) in the infection.
Area(s) of Expertise
Plant responses to virus infection. Virus evolution. Virus-induced Senescence. Multispectral virus detection. Virus inoculations. Biolistics.
Publications
- Editorial: Plant immune responses, evolutionary dynamics, control and transmission of plant ssDNA viruses, volume II , Frontiers in Plant Science (2026)
- Abstract 2585 Engineering Arabidopsis Against Geminiviruses , Journal of Biological Chemistry (2025)
- Abstract 2623 Geminivirus infection may systemically downregulate Arabidopsis response regulator 7 expression in cellular regions surrounding plant vasculature to stimulate cytokinin-mediated growth conditions that support viral genome replication , Journal of Biological Chemistry (2025)
- Development of Modular Geminivirus‐Based Vectors for High Cargo Expression and Gene Targeting in Plants , Plant Biotechnology Journal (2025)
- SEGS-1 episomes generated during cassava mosaic disease enhance disease severity , Frontiers in Plant Science (2025)
- Summary of taxonomy changes ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses from the Plant Viruses Subcommittee, 2025 , Journal of General Virology (2025)
- A rapid and scalable approach to build synthetic repetitive hormone‐responsive promoters , Plant Biotechnology Journal (2024)
- Transcriptional response of laboratory-reared Mexican fruit flies (Anastrepha ludensLoew) to desiccation , Bulletin of Entomological Research (2024)
- SEGS-1 a cassava genomic sequence increases the severity of African cassava mosaic virus infection in Arabidopsis thaliana , Frontiers in Plant Science (2023)
- Early detection of plant virus infection using multispectral imaging and spatial–spectral machine learning , Scientific Reports (2022)