2025 Internship Project Overview

Drought stress alters the plant root microbiome by enriching certain bacteria to assist in relief pathways. Synthetic Communities can be designed using these bacteria and implemented to alleviate osmotic stress in plants. This project aims to identify which strains of bacteria may be used to aid plant growth during drought stress. To do this, we conducted a plant tissue assay using polyethylene glycol (PEG)—a compound used to induce osmotic stress—to screen 36 diverse strains of bacteria to test for root growth promotion under simulated drought conditions. Data was collected via photographs and root measurements were taken using the program ImageJ. Statistical analysis was conducted on the data allowing us to have identified multiple strains that will aid the development of next-generation microbial biotechnologies to improve agricultural systems. In the future, we hope to complete identification of beneficial strains and begin designing Synthetic Communities for agricultural application.

This internship is connected to the HMEI Water and the Environment Grand Challenges project, “Plant Breeding to Increase Agro-Biodiversity and Crop Climate Resilience.”

ORGANIZATION/RESEARCH GROUP

Conway Lab, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University

LOCATION

Princeton, New Jersey

 

Interns

Sarina Wen ’27
Major: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Minor(s): Bioengineering, Neuroscience
"I had a phenomenal experience! I learned so much about experimental planning, project overview, statistical analysis, figure creation for publication, and gained new laboratory skills. It gave me new insight into truly how much thought and planning, trial and error, and resilience it takes to complete an experimental project. I was able to apply my knowledge to help plan next steps, and teach others new skills along the way. This experience inspired me to continue working in chemical and biological engineering and with Conway Laboratory to complete a junior independent research project!"

Click to view the end-of-project presentation

 

Jonathan Conway
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Mentors

  • Ella Gunady, Ph.D. Candidate, Chemical and Biological Engineering
  • Ting Jiang, Associate Research Scholar, Chemical and Biological Engineering