Michael F. Cohen
Associate Professor of Biology
Ph.D. University of California (Davis), 1996
Voicemail: (707) 664-3413;
Email: cohenm@sonoma.edu
Office: Darwin 222
webpage
Postdoctoral Experience:
Veterans Administration Hospital (Sepulveda, CA), University of Ryukyus (Okinawa, Japan), USDA-Agricultural Research Service (Wenatchee, WA).
Research Interests:
Environmental Microbiology, Plant-Microbe Interactions, Sudden Oak Death, Nitric Oxide Biology; Bioremediation, anaerobic digestion of aquatic vegetation and agricultural by-products.
Research Program:
In my laboratory, we study a diverse array of environmental microbes. One project, funded by the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, seeks to determine the potential of leaf-dwelling microorganisms for controlling the severity and spread of Sudden Oak Death disease cuased by Phytophthora ramorum. In collaboration with Dr. Mark Mazzola of the USDA-ARS in Washington State, we are investigating protective microbial activities that limit the capacity of pathogens to infect host plants. Another major research effort of my lab is the development of affordable systems for concomitant bioremediation and bioenergy production. In conjunction with the City of Santa Rosa, we are testing channelized scrubbers that contain aquatic plants and filamentous algae for their efficiency at removing nutrients and other pollutants from treated municipal wastewater. We are optimizing anaerobic digestion of the harvested scrubber biomass, mixed with agricultural by-products from local dairies and wineries, to produce methane gas. Other experiments examine the use of digester effluent as a plant growth-promoting soil amendment.
Representative Publications:
Yamasake H, Itoh RD, Bouchard JN, Dghim AA, Cohen MF (2008) Nitric oxide synthase-like activities in plants. In: Nitrogen Metabolism plants in the Post-Genomic Era. C Foyer, Ed. Submitted.
Massola M, Zhao Z, Cohen MF, Raaijmakers JM (2007) Cyclic lipopeptide surfactant production by Pseudomonas flourescens SS101 is not required for suppression of complex Phthium spp. populrations. Phytopathology 97:1348-1355.
Mazzola M., Brown J., Izzo AD, Cohen MF (2007) Mechanism of action and efficacy seed meal-induced pathogen suppression differ in a Brassicaceae species and time-dependent manner. Phytopathology, 97:454-460.
Arita NO, Cohen MF, Tokuda G, Yamasaki H (2006) Flourometirc detection of nitric oxide with daiminofluoresceins (DAFs): applications and limitations for plant NO research. In: Nitric Oxide in Plant Growth, Development and Stress Physiology, springer Book Series: Plant Cell Monographs. L. Lamattina, J.C. Polacco, Eds., Springer, Plant Cell Monogr 6:269-280.
Yamasaki H, Cohen MF. (2006) NO signal at the crossroads: polyamine-induced nitric oxide synthesis in plants? Trends Plant Sci 11(11):522-524.
Cohen MF, Mazzola M (2006) Effects of Brassica napus seed meal amendment on soil populations polulations of resident bacteria and Naegleria americana, and the unsuitability of arachidonic acid as a protozoan-specific marker. J Protozool Res 16:16-25.
Cohen MF, Mazzola M. (2006) Resident soil bacteria, nitric oxide emission and particulate size modulate the effect of Brassica napus seed meal on disease incited by Rhizoctonia solani and Pythium spp. Plant Soil 286:75-86.
Cohen MF, Yamasaki H, Mazzola M. (2006) Nitric oxide research in agriculture: Bridging the plant and bacterial realms. In: Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants: Toward the improvement of global environment and food. A.K. Rai and T. Takabe, Eds., Springer Verlag, p. 71-90.
Cohen MF, Yamasaki H, Mazzola M. (2005) Brassica napus seed meal soil amendment modifies microbial community structure, nitric oxide production and incidence of Rhizoctonia root rot. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 37(7):1215-1227.
Cohen MF, Han HY, Mazzola M (2004) Molecular and physiological comparision of Azospitillum spp. isolated from Rhizoctonia solani mycelia, wheat rhizosphere and human skin wounds. Can J Microbiol 50:291-297.
Cohen MF, Mazzola M. (2004) A reason to be optimistic about biodiesel: Seed meal as a valuable soil amendment. Trends Biotechnology 22(5):210-211.
Cohen MF, Yamasaki H, Mazzola M (2004) Bioremediation of soils by plant-microbe systems. Int J Green Energy 1(3)301-312.
Cohen MF, Meziane T, Yamasaki H (2004) Photocarotenogenesis by a Rhodococcus isolated from the symbiotic fern Azolla. Endocytobiosis Cell Res 15, 350-355.
Course Offerings:
Molecular and Cell Biology; Bacteriology; Environmental Microbiology; Applied Microbiology.