Contact information

Dr. Rachel Koch Bach

rachel.kochbach@usda.gov

Foreign Disease/Weed Science Research
1301 Ditto Avenue, Fort Detrick, MD 21702
Phone: (301) 619-2846
Fax: (301) 619-2880

Rachel Koch Bach is a Research Plant Pathologist on the emerging foreign plant pathogens project at the Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research Unit located on the Fort Detrick U.S. Army installation in Frederick, Maryland. As a mycologist, her research focus is on foreign fungal plant pathogens that threaten U.S. agricultural interests. 

Research Emphasis

My lab group uses genome analysis, population genomics and transcriptomics to test hypotheses regarding the evolution and biotic interactions of plant pathogenic fungi. More specifically, we want to understand the demography, evolutionary potential and host interactions of high-consequence fungal plant pathogens.

Because of our access to BSL-3 greenhouse facilities, my group focuses on fungal species or lineages that cause globally significant plant diseases but are not yet in the United States. Current research projects in the lab are focused on the causal agents of soybean red leaf blotch, coffee leaf rust and peanut smut.

Projects

• Projects

  Integrative Genomic and Biological Approaches to Detect and Manage Emerging Foreign Fungal Plant Pathogens In-House Appropriated (D)   Accession Number:440440

Publications

• Use the drop down box below to view publications at USDA-ARS:

• Publications

  • (Clicking on the reprint icon will take you to the publication reprint.)
  • Remarkably high internal transcribed spacer haplotype diversity of the fungal select agent Coniothyrium glycines discovered throughout its range in Sub-Saharan Africa -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Koch Bach, R.A., Murithi, H.M., Slocum, C.R., Coyne, D., Clough, S.J. 2024. Remarkably high internal transcribed spacer haplotype diversity of the fungal select agent Coniothyrium glycines discovered throughout its range in Sub-Saharan Africa. Phytopathology. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-09-23-0315-KC.
    
  • Comparative RNA-seq analysis of resistant and susceptible Theobroma cacao fruits in response to infection with frosty pod pathogen (Moniliophthora roreri) -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Puig, A.S., Cohen, S.P., Koch Bach, R.A., Arciniegas Leal, A., Gutierrez, O.A., Bailey, B.A. 2023. Comparative RNA-seq analysis of resistant and susceptible Theobroma cacao fruits in response to infection with frosty pod pathogen (Moniliophthora roreri). PhytoFrontiers. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTOFR-09-22-0101-R.
    

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Education

Ph.D. Plant Pathology, Purdue University
B.S. Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame

Research Experience

• Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS, Foreign Disease/Weed Science Unit, Frederick, MD, 2022-present.
• Research Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 2021-2022.
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 2019-2021.
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 2017-2019.