Research Area: Plant Hosts

Lucas studies how populations and communities are shaped by interacting ecological and evolutionary dynamics that play out across space. Given the conceptual breadth of questions that interest him, Lucas uses a range of approaches (e.g., theory, experiments, population genomics) and systems (e.g., insect host–parasitoid, microbial[...]

We focus our research efforts on discovery and molecular characterization of bacterial factors involved in bacterial-plant interactions, with particular interests in bacterial signaling systems and small non-coding RNAs. Another area of research is the development of new management strategies for bacterial pathogens. We use a[...]

Josh’s interest in fungal biology started while earning a BS in Microbiology at the University of Minnesota where he did research on the human fungal pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Blastomyces dermatitidis in the Nielsen lab at the University of Minnesota. Josh went on to pursue a Ph.D. in[...]

The Hay lab uses methods from microbial ecology, physiology, genomics, and genetics to understand how human activities affect microbes in diverse environmental settings. For instance, we study how handling of milk collection kits affects the microbiome of pumped human milk. Students will use genomics to[...]

Our research is directed at characterizing structures and biological function of biogenic small molecules (BSMs) that regulate development and immune responses in plants and animals and serve important functions with associated microbiota. Using comparative metabolomic approaches we have engaged in a comprehensive effort to characterize[...]

The research in the Kessler Lab focuses on the ecology and evolution of plant chemical defenses (secondary metabolites) to pathogens and herbivores and the role of soil microbial communities to affect and be affected by plant secondary metabolism. Thus we try to understand how microbially-mediated[...]

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[...]

We study the mechanisms underlying ecological interactions between fungi and bacteria.  Student projects will focus on current work to characterize the bacteria associated with mycorrhizal fungi in poorly studied desert habitats in California and Israel. Students will learn culture and microscopy techniques, and phylogenetic analysis.

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[...]