Penn State alumna creates guide for the new generation of plant pathologists

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new teaching guide — created by Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences alumna Sadie Seaman along with the support of her thesis advisor — is making bacterial genome sequencing more accessible for students just getting started in the lab.

The guide, recently published in the American Phytopathological Society’s Plant Health Instructor, offers an introduction to DNA extraction, sequencing and basic analysis using plant-associated bacteria. It is designed so that both students and educators can use it as a first step into genomics.

Seaman said the idea grew directly from her master’s research in plant pathology, carried out in the Roman-Reyna Lab within Penn State’s Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology.

“Since my project focused on bacterial whole genome sequencing, I wanted to use the experience that I had during my master's to showcase how science can become more accessible, especially to those just starting out in the field,” she said. “That was the goal and the hope with this guide, is that it makes whole genome sequencing feel less foreign, especially to newer students.”

The guide briefly walks readers through choosing bacterial isolates, which are individual strains of bacteria separated from a mixed environment and grown in a laboratory. It then discusses culturing them, extracting DNA, and using freely available tools to examine genome structure and identify species.

Seaman said she knows genomics can seem daunting at first.

“You think about whole genome sequencing, and it feels like an overwhelming task,” she said. “It turns out that when you break it down into its separate parts, it becomes a really streamlined workflow that most people can do if they put their minds to it.”

Verónica Román-Reyna, assistant professor of global change plant pathology, co-authored the guide and worked with Seaman to shape it around student needs.

“The goal Sadie and I had with the guide (lab exercises) was to take the mystery out of genomics and helping other people feel confident and excited to try it out for themselves,” she said. She noted that seeing the process through Seaman’s perspective helped them make the resource feel like it was truly written for students.

Seaman’s path to this work began with a double major in biology and environmental studies at Oberlin College, where she was “so gung-ho about fungi,” she said.

While searching for graduate programs, she read Román-Reyna’s description as Penn State’s “global change pathologist” and felt an immediate connection to her focus on microbiomes and global change. That led Seaman to Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, even though it meant shifting from fungi to bacteria.

Penn State’s plant pathology master’s program, she said, gave her both technical skills and a new mindset for tackling research problems.

“The master's program for plant pathology truly taught me the importance of being able to own mistakes and troubleshooting those mistakes to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” Seaman said.

Before graduate school, she described herself as a perfectionist, but Seaman said her time in the college helped her learn to work through unsuccessful experiments and lean on the scientific literature.

“It helped me build the confidence that I know what I’m talking about, and if I don’t know something, that there are publications, and I’m able to navigate available information more effectively because of Penn State,” she said.

Those experiences helped launch her into her current role as a plant pathologist in the Plant Protection Division at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. As a graduate student, Seaman worked with bacterial isolates supplied by the department as part of a collaboration established by Román-Reyna. This experience built a direct connection with Ekaterina Nikolaeva, the plant pathology program manager who now supervises her.

That collaboration, she said, made the job interview process “a lot more familiar” and showed how faculty outreach and departmental partnerships can give students support.

Now, Seaman hopes the guide will do for future students what the college did for her.

“I really hope that this guide can offer others what the plant pathology department has done for me,” she said. “Hopefully, we’re motivating some new future plant pathologists.”