About
My name is Toi Ketehouli. I’m from Togo. I earned my BSc in Agronomy and Crop Sciences at Université de Lomé (Togo), and my MSc in Crop Biotechnology from Engineering Research Center of the Chinese Ministry of Education for Bioreactor and Pharmaceutical Development, College of Life Sciences, Jilin Agricultural University (China). I joined Dr. Martins’ lab Fall 2022 as Graduate Research Assistant. My research focuses on the impact of antibiotics on antibiotic-resistant bacteria number, plant physiology, metabolomics, and bacterial assemblages in citrus plant tissues. The U.S. citrus industry is at risk due to citrus greening disease caused by the uncultured bacterial pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. This disease has devastated Florida citrus in the last 16 years, considerably reducing productivity. As a result, citrus growers have been allowed since 2016 to use streptomycin and oxytetracycline antibiotics to overcome this disease. My study aims to replenish the function of the bacteria lost because of the antibiotic application and introduce biological control agents against citrus greening, thus reducing the need for antibiotic use.
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Education
August 2022-present Ph.D. in Plant Pathology, University of Florida (USA)
2020 MSc in Crop Biotechnology, Jilin Agricultural University (China)
2014 BSc in Agronomy and Crop Sciences, Université de Lomé (Togo) -
Research
My research interests include Plant Physiology, Plant-Microbe Interactions and Biocontrol, Metabolomics, and Bacterial Assemblages.
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Other Information
Awards:
2020: ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents Ph.D. Awardee, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2020: Outstanding Master Degree Thesis
2016: Chinese Government Scholarship Award