Vidya Vuruputoor

I am a Post-doctoral scholar in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut. Currently, most Christmas trees sold in the United States lack known genotypes. A GIFT SEED, a USDA-funded project, aims to improve Christmas trees by identifying superior genotypes of Fraser firs. My role involves generating genomic resources for four Fir species: Noble, Trojan, Momi, and Fraser fir. I am also interested in creating a pangenome and establishing conservation efforts for Fraser fir.

I received my PhD from the Plant Computational Genomics lab at the University of Connecticut, where I led efforts to conserve the eastern hemlock by assembling and annotating its genome, and conducting a multi-site, year-long temporal ‘omics’ study to assess differential response profiles between susceptible (wild-type) and lingering candidate eastern hemlocks. For my Master’s, I studied at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands, specializing in molecular plant breeding and phytopathology. I interned at the Lab of Nematology, where I was introduced to bioinformatics and assembled the genome of the beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii. Additionally, I interned at Dümmen Orange, researching resistance (R) genes in rose cultivars.

My research interests include conservation genomics, population genetics, pangenomics, genome annotation and assembly, polyploidy, and host-pest/parasite interactions.