Jorge Rocha

The paper shows that strain-specific higher-order interactions in microbial communities can override phylogenetic conservatism, demonstrating that strains are not interchangeable even within the same species.

The paper assembles a synthetic microbial community (SynCom) from maize-associated bacteria to study emergent colony architecture as a proxy for biofilm formation.

This study investigates the roles of EPS, Hrp T3SS, and Expansin in the virulence of E. tracheiphila, showing EPS is essential for survival, while Hrp T3SS and Expansin are needed for systemic wilt symptoms.

The paper tests root-colonization of Bacilli isolates from maize seeds in vitro and soil, finding that in vitro biofilm formation poorly predicts long-term soil colonization.

This study identifies a shared algal-bacterial extracellular matrix formed through bacterial exopolysaccharide production, enhancing aggregation and colonization in marine environments.