Eric W. Triplett

Eric W. Triplett is an American microbiologist. He is Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Cell Science at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), a position he has held since 2003. His research addresses microbial diversity across environments, including nitrogen-fixing bacteria, the human gut microbiome's role in autoimmune disease, and the biology of citrus greening disease.

Triplett was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2020. According to Google Scholar, his publications have been cited more than 30,000 times, with an h-index of 85.

Early life and education Triplett received a Bachelor of Science in biology from Cook College, Rutgers University, in 1976. He earned a Master of Science in Botany and Plant Physiology from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1978, and a PhD in Agronomy and Plant Physiology from the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 1981, studying nitrogen metabolism in soybeans under Dale G. Blevins. He completed postdoctoral research on nitrogenase regulation in Rhodospirillum rubrum at the University of Wisconsin–Madison under Paul W. Ludden. He is a co-author on large-scale TEDDY consortium studies characterizing the developing infant gut microbiome in relation to islet autoimmunity.

Citrus greening disease Triplett's laboratory has developed model systems to study Liberibacter, the bacterium associated with citrus greening disease (Huanglongbing), which has caused major losses to Florida's citrus industry. This research has been covered by agricultural trade press.

Administration As chair of the Department of Microbiology and Cell Science since 2003, Triplett has overseen substantial growth in the department, including an increase from 13 to 27 tenured and tenure-track faculty, and the development of distance-education degree programs at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. He led a successful legislative budget request that provided $55 million to help establish UF's Emerging Pathogens Institute.

He has served on the editorial board of the ISME Journal since 2010 and of Microbiome since 2014.

Honors and awards Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2020) William A. Hinton Award for Advancement of a Diverse Community of Microbiologists, American Society for Microbiology (2021) Innovative Teaching Award, Academic Programs Section of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (2019) CAFNR Alumni Columns Award, University of Missouri (2019) International Professorship for Latin America and the Caribbean, American Society for Microbiology (2011) Fulbright Award, visiting scholar at the Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University (2003)

Selected publications Patents "Recombinant Rhizobium bacteria inoculants," U.S. Patent No. 5,183,759 (1993) "Plasmid for transformation of root nodule bacteria," U.S. Patent No. 5,858,762 (1999) "Lactobacillus supplement for alleviating type 1 diabetes," U.S. Patent No. 9,474,773 (2016)

Edited books Triplett, E. W. (ed.). Prokaryotic Nitrogen Fixation: A Model System for the Analysis of a Biological Process. Horizon Scientific Press, 2000. Leong, S. A., C. Allen, & Triplett, E. W. (eds.). Biology of Plant-Microbe Interactions, Vol. 3. International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 2002.

Selected journal articles Triplett, E. W., & Sadowsky, M. J. (1992). "Genetics of competition for nodulation of legumes." Annual Review of Microbiology, 46, 399–428. Davis-Richardson, A. G., & Triplett, E. W. (2015). "A model for the role of gut bacteria in the development of autoimmunity for type 1 diabetes." Diabetologia, 58, 1386–1393. Vatanen, T., et al. (2018). "The human gut microbiome in early-onset type 1 diabetes from the TEDDY study." Nature, 562, 589–594. Lernmark, Å., et al. (2025). "Looking back at the TEDDY study: lessons and future directions." Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 21, 154–165. Glusberger, P. R., et al. (2026). "Risk evaluation and molecular characterization of AtNPR1 transgenic citrus lines tolerant to citrus greening disease." Plant Biotechnology Journal, 24, 1223–1233.