I am Mamokete Bokhale, a doctoral student under the supervision of Professor Moleleki. My research focus is on potato-bacterium interactions. Pectobacterium and Dickeya belong to the soft rot bacteria group, which cause blackleg and soft rot symptoms in potato and ornamental plants. At present there is lack of effective control strategies targeted against these pathogens.

Another way of trying to control SRE pathogens is to find ways to disrupt common essential factors required for pathogenesis. In this study we aim to identify essential virulence genes required for infection of potato as a host plant from both pectobacterium and Dickeya pathogens. These essential genes present potential targets for the prevention of SRE diseases.