Our research unit focuses on the model plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000, which causes speck disease on tomatoes and the model laboratory plant Arabidopsis. Close relatives to this bacteria cause disease on virtually every major vegetable crop.

Disease symptoms caused by
Pseudmonas syringae pv tomato DC3000

Plants and microbes are involved in extremely diverse set of interactions that are poorly understood at a molecular level. These interactions can be harmful as they are in the case of pathogenesis while others are clearly beneficial. From a biophysical perspective, these interactions are driven by environmental sensors in both plant and microbe that trigger complicated signal transduction mechanisms, eventually leading to altered patterns in gene expression that change cellular and organismal physiology. In turn, each partner in the interaction senses changes in its environment that trigger compensatory responses. Dissecting these interactions on the molecular level involves determining how: a) environmental signals are sensed; b) components in the signal transduction pathways operate; c) the receipt of signals leads to characteristic changes in patterns of gene expression; d) altered patterns of gene expression lead to physiological changes that can be detected by the other partner; e) structural features of macromolecules are related to function and dynamics. The overall approach will involve a synthesis of genome-driven, genome-scale laboratory experimentation, computational analysis and modeling, nanobiotechnology, and structural biology.

An overview of the research done by our unit can be found here.

Current Projects

	Pathogen Responses to Environmental Signals
	Discovery of Novel Regulatory Elements
	Computational Biology