As a microscopist and cell biologist, Judith Wopereis is interested in the use of microscopical techniques to visualize and characterize small biological structures. Her main focus is the study of morphological features in symbiotic relations between plants and microbes. In addition, she is interested in using quantitative microscopy, digital image processes and image analysis techniques to quantify morphological features. The application of microscope techniques has resulted in collaborations with students and faculty involving various topics, including morphological study of the trap mechanism in the carnivorous plant Utricularia, ultrastructural analysis of the coelomic oocyte of Xenopus laevis, and the three-dimensional characterization and visualization of biofilms.

Representative Publications

Dazzo, F.B., and J. Wopereis. 2000. "Unravelling the Infection Process in the Rhizobium-Legume Symbiosis by Microscopy." Prokaryotic Nitrogen Fixation: A Model System for the Analysis of a Biological Process. Eric W. Triplett, Ed., Horizon Scientific Press, Chapter 19.

Wopereis, J., E. Pajuelo, F. B. Dazzo, Q. Jiang, P. M. Gresshoff, F. J. de Bruijn, J. Stougaard, and K. Szczyglowski. 2000. "Short root mutant of Lotus japonicus with a dramatically altered symbiotic phenotype." The Plant Journal. 23(1): 97–114.

Szczyglowski, K., S. Shaw, J. Wopereis, D. Hamburger, S. Copeland, F. B. Dazzo, F. J. de Bruijn. 1998. "Nodule organogenesis and symbiotic mutants of the model legume Lotus japonicus." Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 11: 684–697.

Osinga, R., W. Lewis, J. Wopereis, C. Vriezen, F. C. van Duyl. 1995. "Effects of the sea urchin Echinocardium cordatum on oxygen uptake and sulfate reduction in experimental bentic systems under increasing organic loading." Ophelia: 41, 221–236.