Soledad Benitez Ponce, associate professor, Department of Plant Pathology in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, has been awarded a 2026-2027 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Colombia to research “Studies on the distribution of purple top disease of potato relatives in Colombia.”
From April – June, 2027, Benitez Ponce will study an emergent plant disease in crops of relevance to the Andean regions of Colombia and other South American countries, known as purple top. She will work alongside colleagues at Universidad Militar Nueva Granada (UMNG) in Bogotá.
Purple top affects potato, and though it has also been reported in other crops in other countries, the presence and impact of this disease in Colombia is not documented. Purple top is caused by bacteria know as 'fastidious', given their unique growth characteristics.
“Given the importance of potato and other related crops (tree tomato, goldenberry, and lulo) for Colombia, this Fulbright project will evaluate the incidence and causal agent of this disease in the southern region of Colombia,” Benitez Ponce explained. “The bacteria that cause purple top are known as 'fastidious' because of their difficulty to grow in vitro and the close interactions they have with their hosts. These include species of Phytoplasma and Liberibacter. I am partnering with scientists at Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, who are specialists on 'fastidious' bacteria.”
“A key outcome of this research is to expand my experience with a group of bacteria in which I have limited expertise. This experience will combine tools I use in my lab at Ohio State together with techniques used by my collaborator in Bogota. It will also foster new research collaborations with colleagues in Colombia. Lastly, I hope to better understand the complexity of agricultural systems in tropical countries with varying ecological regions.”
Benitez Ponce is a faculty member affiliated with the Infectious Diseases Institute, Center for Soybean Research, the Center of Microbiome Science, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center.
Fulbright
The Fulbright Scholar Program is administered by the Institute of International Education and is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
For more information about the Fulbright Scholar Program contact Joanna Kukielka-Blaser. View a complete list of Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program recipients.
