Microbial Ecology

Ali obtained a Ph.D. in Crop Genetics and Breeding from Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China 2016. He then joined the lab of Prof. Jeffery Bennetzen as Research Scientist at Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China, in 2018. At AHAU, he studied the relationship between host-microbe interaction, the spatial distribution of microbial communities on plant niches (bulk soil, rhizosphere, root), their colonization on plant roots and how these below-ground microbes are affected by agronomic practices such as the application of heavy metal Copper (Cu) containing fungicides.

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​His current research interests in Dr. Lazar’s Laboratory are the ecological and molecular characterization of the endolithic microbial communities that have colonized rocks impacted by the collision of large meteorites at geological scales and microbial communities of terrestrial subsurface habitats.