Research Area: Fungi

Fungi are responsible for devastating crop infestations that threaten global food supplies and diseases that result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of individuals each year. We use genetic and genomic techniques spanning from classical molecular biology to high-throughput functional genomics to understand how[...]

Our lab is focused on pollinator health. Specifically: Combining empirical data with network modeling to understand pathogen transmission in complex plant-pollinator networks. Evaluating the relative importance of pesticides, pathogens, and other factors on colony performance. Understanding how pesticide and pathogen stress influence bee behavior and[...]

I am an ecosystem ecologist interested in the patterns, mechanisms, and consequences of the interactions between terrestrial ecosystems and the environment. My research program uses process-based ecosystem models as ‘numerical greenhouses’ to integrate the every-increasing heterogeneous data sets in ecology (e.g. synthesis in traits, ground[...]

The Turgeon lab works on mechanisms of fungal virulence to plants with particular emphasis on the roles of fungal secondary metabolites, iron and oxidative stress. Classical genetic, molecular genetic, and genomic approaches are used.

Two main areas of study in the Smart lab include identifying genes in bacterial pathogens that enable movement within a plant, and understanding the population diversity of rapidly reproducing oomycete pathogens. These studies enhance our knowledge of pathogen virulence determinants and further elucidate how plants[...]

My research group focuses on free-ranging North America wildlife to improve health outcomes across a variety of species, their pathogens and parasites.  At the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab, we derive solutions from novel mathematical applications, innovative diagnostic evaluations, field-based studies, and human dimensions of wildlife[...]

The Pawlowska lab studies the mechanisms underlying interactions between fungi and bacteria.  We are interested in both, mutualisms and antagonisms.  In mutualistic interactions, we want to discover novel mechanisms that stabilize these symbioses over evolutionary time.  In antagonisms, we explore defense mechanisms that protect fungi from bacterial[...]

We study disease resistance in maize and sorghum with a substantial focus on fungal pathogens that produce toxins and cause large-scale food system contamination. We work at scales ranging from a single nucleotide (which genetic variations provide quantitative resistance) to whole-plant phenotypes (looking at tradeoffs[...]

The goal of the Kao-Kniffin Lab is to understand the functional role of rhizosphere microbiomes in modifying plant traits. The rhizosphere harbors a tremendous diversity of soil microorganisms that enhance or inhibit plant growth. We are applying concepts in ecology and evolution to assemble microbiomes[...]

Most flowering plants develop mutualistic symbioses with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to improve access to essential mineral nutrients. The fungal endosymbionts are housed in membrane-bound compartments within root cells. Our research combines genetic, genomic and cell biology approaches to dissect the plant and fungal cellular[...]