Kalai is working as a research assistant and focusing on Tan spot disease of wheat. Her main work is related to genetic mapping and assisting in generating phenotype data of mapping population and perform QTL analysis that enables identification of wheat chromosomal regions of interest for yellow spot disease resistance/susceptibility. These will be useful for molecular marker generation and validation as well as new tools for the ag industry.
Kalai also works on assessing aggressiveness of yellow spot isolates annually via plant infection assays and screening CAIGE Wheat lines for yellow spot effector sensitivity. This data will be a useful resource for researchers and the agriculture industry.
Science has been Kalai’s primary interest from young age and led her to the research field. As well, I wanted to do work that involves generating new ideas that lead to innovation and provide positive contribution to the people and the world.