Palloma Caproni-Morais

Palloma Indiara Caproni Morais is a Postdoctoral Research Associate working under Dr. Gary Munkvold. She is working on a project with MCMV (Maize chlorotic mottle virus) to evaluate the effects of seed disinfection methods and seed transmission risk on seed testing results. The disinfection treatments chosen are Bleach 10%, TSP, and Simple Green 2%. First, we will check for the virus in seeds. After that, she will investigate the presence of MCMV in seedlings performing DAS-ELISA test. Once she has examined 10,000 seedlings treated and non-treated, she will calculate the transmission risk and assess whether the treatment was effective or not. Morais also works in the PCR lab where she processes samples and subsample seeds for seed health tests. She performs different types of grinding, such as seed wash and dry or wet grind, depending on the requirements of each test. Additionally, she performs DNA and RNA purification procedures and conduct PCR reactions as part of our lab's activities.