Silvina Arias is an ISRC affiliate and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology and is also affiliated with ISU’s Seed Science Center. In 2023, the ISRC funded two of her research projects: Gene Expression Characterization of Iron Deficiency and Fusarium graminearum Interactive Responses in Soybean, of which a final report will be coming soon and Application of Innovative Intercropping Practices to Increase Soybean Production in Iowa, which will be completed toward the end of 2026.

The first project looks at characterizing genes that are differentially regulated by soybean plants when they are infected with the pathogen F. graminearum and grown in an iron deficiency environment. Arias expects the research will help develop new ways to broaden the resistance of soybeans to Fusarium root rot and iron deficiency. She is collaborating on this research with agronomy research geneticist Jamie O’Rourke.

The second project aims to expand soybean production and potentially increase the economic returns to Iowa farmers by changing how they use existing cropland. The project is exploring the possibility of intercropping soybeans with winter small grains and oilseeds, such as canola, to take advantage of Iowa’s six-month fallow period. Co-investigators on this project include Leonor Leandro, professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, and Mark Licht, associate professor of agronomy.

“I want to acknowledge the support of the Iowa Soybean Research Center in advancing collaborative research projects that drive innovation and progress within the soybean industry. Their partnership is instrumental in fostering research initiatives that benefit both the industry and soybean farmers, ensuring continued growth and sustainability. We look forward to the impactful contributions that these projects will bring to soybean production and agricultural community of Iowa,” said Arias.

Arias joined Iowa State University in 2016 as a post-doctoral research associate and in 2019 she was promoted to adjunct assistant professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology. Her research interests include studying interactions among plant pathogens, environmental conditions and host defense responses; plant-microbe associations; detection of seedborne and seed-transmitted pathogens of crop plants; analysis of mycotoxins (toxic substances produced by certain types of fungi that can affect humans and animals) and other secondary metabolites (a diverse group of chemicals that help plants survive stress and defend themselves).

Arias earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biochemistry at the University of Cordoba in Argentina. After working for several years as a food analytical microbiological biochemist in the Center of Excellence on Products and Processes, she returned to the University of Cordoba to pursue a PhD.  Her PhD research provided specific biochemical evidence for the phytotoxic (or adverse) effects of fumonisin B1 (toxic mycotoxin that can contaminate food and feed) in tissues of maize seedlings, and the role of this in the ability of Fusarium verticillioides to cause seedling disease. Fusarium verticillioides is the most commonly reported fungal species infecting maize.