By: Jazmine Robinson
National Peanut Day is celebrated annually on September 13. It honors peanuts’ versatility and significance in American life. Likely originating as a tribute to the legume’s economic and cultural impact, the day honors peanut farmers, highlights peanuts’ nutritional value, and recognizes their widespread integration into American cuisine.
In honor of this year’s National Peanut Day, we want to highlight a researcher working to improve peanuts for farmers and consumers across the world. Patricia Sanmartín is the Laboratory Manager of the Clevenger Lab at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. The Clevenger Lab harnesses genomic technology to develop new peanut varieties that are better equipped to withstand changing environmental conditions, pests, and diseases. Let’s get to know Patricia, who is an integral member of this lab doing such amazing work for the peanut community.
Jazmine Robinson: So, tell me about yourself. What led you here?
Patricia Sanmartín: Ecuador is tropical, but I am from Riobamba, which is a mountain area, so there’s a lot of agriculture around. We’re from the city, but my mother worked in the rural area throughout her entire career, and I became very interested in the environment. Agriculture is one of the practices that contaminates the environment the most, and I wanted to work in tune with the environment. I moved from Ecuador and went to the Earth University of Costa Rica for my bachelor’s in sustainable agriculture. There would be a lot of interns visiting from different universities in the States, and one of the interns from Alabama A&M University told me about their program. I pursued my master’s in food science at Alabama A&M after I graduated from Costa Rica, with a minor in chicken behavior.
Jazmine: Chicken behavior?
Patricia: What does this have to do with plants, right? Agriculture is such a broad field—plants and animals. I was trying to decide which part of agriculture I like the most: animal production or plant production. Having a background in plant science and then doing research during my master’s degree in animals, I definitely know now that plants are what I like the most.
Jazmine: What would you say has been the biggest impact in making that determination?
Patricia: My experiences here at HudsonAlpha. I applied to HudsonAlpha for the BioTrain internship because I wanted to know more about biotechnology. It turns out that biotechnology is such a multidisciplinary field that encompasses everything that I was interested in. I can work with animals, plants … chickens. I am very fortunate to have been a part of the BioTrain program.
After the internship ended, I was asked to stay on and I was shelling peanuts for a while. Every time we harvest a plant, it’s a unique sample. We have to process them manually, and I was the designated peanut sheller. I was shelling peanuts for almost six months, headphones in, podcast on, shelling. We didn’t have the greenhouse yet, but when it opened, I applied for the greenhouse assistant position and was able to work with all 3 labs (Clevenger Lab, Harkess Lab, and Swaminathan Lab) for about 8 months. Then, a research associate position opened in the Clevenger Lab, and I knew I wanted to go for it because I loved working with peanuts the most. I have been in the Clevenger lab since then.
Jazmine: I love that! What is it about peanuts that drew you in?
Patricia: The peanut, by itself, is a superstar crop. Peanuts are legumes that have the power to introduce more nitrogen into the soil. This means nitrogen from the atmosphere is turned into a usable form by bacteria that live within the roots of peanut. Peanut is also a multi-purpose crop. Animals can eat the leaves, and we eat the fruits, (which is the peanut), so we can use the entire plant–there is no waste. Their growth cycle is relatively short, from 100 to 150 days. The nutritional content is very important, especially for countries that are underdeveloped. It’s an easy crop to grow. And the flavor, it’s just so good. Once I started reading more about peanuts, I couldn’t help not to love it.
Jazmine: What do you do in the lab?
Patricia: I’m basically in charge of organizing the group, processing the samples here, and collaborating with our sister lab in Dothan*.
We have a peanut breeding program and internal projects here in the greenhouse. We do crosses to select our best genotypes that are showing resistance to certain pests, such as aflatoxin and leaf spot. We’re also interested in finding genotypes with a high oleic acid content. We collaborate with different universities, helping them process samples and also understand their findings. We’ve worked with more than 29 different species.
We also work extensively with breeders. We have a lot of data and technology that breeders don’t have and that they can’t access, so we work with them to provide them with what they need.
Right now, we’re working on short-read sequencing, and are starting to do more long-read sequencing. We have a new sequencer called the Revio, so that’s something that we are studying and trying to troubleshoot for new projects as well.
Jazmine: What is a valuable lesson or skill you’ve gained through your research experiences?
Patricia: The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to take your time and triple-check everything. We’re working with very small tubes and multiple samples at the same time, and you can get distracted. It doesn’t hurt to take your time.
Jazmine: What would you say is the most exciting part about your job?
Patricia: I guess that every day is challenging. We are always troubleshooting, but that’s also exciting, right? I realized that I really like research and development. So to try to understand the science behind it, and then apply this and try to make it work in the lab. It’s exciting, but at the same time, it’s challenging, because you have to redo it and rethink it. Sometimes you have done it more than 10 times and you can still not find the answer. So, that is a challenge, but it’s also exciting.
Jazmine: Have any colleagues played a significant role in your work or your training?
Patricia: I have found that a lot of people at HudsonAlpha have helped me in many ways. Josh, by giving me the opportunity to learn from him. He is great about finding conferences and resource tools for training. I learned a lot about how to take care of plants in general from Jason (Bunn) from the greenhouse. Really, anyone I have ever asked any question of has been very helpful. Even though our team is more limited, there are only three of us, we can still go to other labs or the education team and can understand the basics of certain protocols. I see the collaboration throughout the entire institute.
Jazmine: What do you see yourself doing long term?
Patricia: I’m passionate about research and hands-on work. I’m particularly interested in food security research. I’d like a role that involves a balance of reading, writing, and laboratory work. Plants, especially peanuts, are a strong area of interest for me; I’m not sure I want to work with animals anymore.
Jazmine: So, outside of your work, what do you like to do?
Patricia: I really enjoy drawing and painting. I use some watercolors or acrylics. I also like to bike and enjoy yoga as well. I enjoy the company of good people. I came to Alabama during Covid, so it made it more difficult, but I feel that now I have a community.
* In 2022, HudsonAlpha announced its expansion into Dothan, the Peanut Capital of the World. The HudsonAlpha Wiregrass campus is harnessing genomics to revolutionize agriculture in the Wiregrass region, focusing on developing drought- and disease-resistant peanut varieties among other key crops. The Clevenger Lab, a pivotal part of this initiative, is leading research efforts to enhance crop sustainability by integrating advanced genomics into breeding practices.
