Laramie Aközbek (nee Smith), a first year Auburn University PhD student in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture, was recently awarded the 2022 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship.

Along with the recognition that comes with it, this three-year award will help fund Aközbek’s ongoing research that focuses on nitrogen use in plants; more specifically, the study of nitrogen fixation in non-legumes.

Although Aközbek is a student at Auburn, her research takes place at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in the lab of Auburn University professor and HudsonAlpha faculty investigator Alex Harkess, PhD.

Aközbek’s research centers on the evolution and genetic basis of nitrogen fixation in species, such as the Southern wax myrtle (also known as Morella cerifera). Nitrogen fixation is a process that is made possible through a symbiotic relationship with a microbe called Frankia.

In the effort to identify the genes involved in this symbiosis process, Aközbek generates genome assemblies for both the host and the symbiont, in addition to generating specific gene expression data.

“Nitrogen is essential for plant growth and a critical component of modern fertilizers, and some organisms are capable of ‘making their own fertilizer’ through symbioses like these that help them utilize atmospheric nitrogen,” said Aközbek. “Understanding the genetic basis of this valuable process across diverse lineages plays an important role in our path to sustainable agricultural solutions.”

Aközbek was one of 2,193 people in the United States, just one of six Auburn University students, and the only HudsonAlpha researcher to receive the NSF grant.

“It is still sinking in,” said Aközbek. “I did not start my career in the sciences and discovered my love for it later on in life, so receiving this award was not only an incredible honor but it also felt like reaching a goal post in my own journey as a scientist.”

Images provided by HudsonAlpha.