Alejandro Rojas

Alejandro Rojas is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University affiliated with both the BioMolecular Science Gateway and the Genetics & Genome Sciences Program. His research focuses on fungal and oomycete biology, particularly their ecological roles and interactions with plants using genomic and 'omics approaches.

• PhD in Plant Pathology / Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behaviour (2016)
• MS in Plant Pathology (2011)
• MS in Biological Sciences (Microbiology, 2007)
• BS in Microbiology (2005)

Rojas investigates the population and community ecology of root-associated fungi and oomycetes, bridging basic and applied science to understand plant-microbe interactions in agricultural systems. His work includes biocontrol agent development, disease resistance screening, and microbial community analysis in crops like soybean, rice, and strawberry.

Recent trends in his research include advanced genomic prediction models for crop yield traits, high-throughput sequencing for fungal diversity analysis, and development of diagnostic assays using molecular techniques. His publications span topics such as pathogen virulence variation, fungicide resistance monitoring, and microbial interactions in hydroponic and field systems.

Rojas teaches courses on plant pathology methods and applied molecular evolution of plant microbes. He has developed standardized protocols for disease screening assays and contributed to agricultural metadata standards, focusing on microbiome research applications.