Research
Plant pathogenic bacteria utilize diverse strategies to facilitate pathogenic interaction with their host and cause disease. We are interested in the molecular mechanisms that determine disease development and host specificity and ways to utilize this knowledge to control disease and engineer disease resistant crops. Our group main focus is on the cruciferous vegetables pathogen Xanthomonas campestris subsp. campestris and the tomato pathogen Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis.
Virulence Effectors of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria
Pathogenic interactions with host plants are mediated by secreted bacterial effectors that manipulate host signaling to promote disease. The function of these effectors is not fully understood. Our aim is to use molecular and biochemical techniques to characterize these effectors, understand their effect on the host, identify their plant targets and investigate their regulation inside the bacteria.
Host Specificity Determinants
The majority of plant pathogenic bacteria harbor extremely high host specificity and are restricted a small number of crops. The bacterial and host factors that facilitate these specific interactions and determine pathogen host range are unknown in most pathosystems. We utilize genomic and forward genetics approaches to identify pathogen and host factors that control host range and understand how host specificity is determined.
Identification of new sources of resistance to bacterial pathogens
Numerous wild varieties of domesticated crops demonstrate resistance or high tolerance to pathogens. In many cases, these resistances were found to be associated with single genetic loci that can be introduced to breeding programs. We are currently screening germplasm libraries for resistances to multiple bacterial pathogens and use genetic and physiological tools to characterize how the resistance is facilitated.