Plant-Microbe Biology

• Molecular and Cellular Basis of Inter-organismal Interactions
• Functional Genomics and Proteomics
• Plant Responses to Symbionts and Pathogens

The past decade has seen a rapid development of conceptual models to guide the study of plant-microbe interactions and an explosion of new tools to test those models. For example, we now have access to complete genome sequences of many pathogens and plants and we can visualize key molecular events as they occur in living systems. Also, the phenomena we explore -- from pathogen attack mechanisms to host innate immune responses -- are increasingly seen to be part of a broad web of inter-organismal interactions whose understanding can benefit both plant and human health.

Students in this program have a common goal of understanding the biology of the interactions between plants and microbes, particularly with respect to pathogenesis and symbiosis. They typically conduct research on pathogenic, symbiotic, and epiphytic processes enabling microbial associations with plants, and on the mechanisms in plants that lead to defense, susceptibility, or cooperation. In addition to four core courses in Plant Pathology, students in the Plant-Microbe Biology Program typically take advanced courses in allied fields such as Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Genetics and Development, Genomics, Microbiology, and Plant Biology. The inherently broad training afforded by the molecular study of interaction biology enables graduates of this program to pursue a wide range of disciplines and careers.

Faculty affiliated with the Plant-Microbe Biology program

• Dr. Steven Beer—Molecular genetics and mechanisms of pathogenicity of Erwinia amylovora; biological control of fire blight and other diseases by bacteria.
  
  
• Dr. Gary Bergstrom—Biology, epidemiology, and integrated management of diseases of wheat, corn, soybean, forage legumes, and biofuel feedstock crops.
  
  
• Dr. Samuel Cartinhour—Analysis of regulatory mechanisms and gene expression networks in Pseudomonas syringae.
  
  
• Dr. Alan Collmer—Molecular phytobacteriology and microbial genomics.
  
  
• Dr. William Fry—Biology of oomycetes and management of disease they cause (with emphasis on Phytophthora infestans).
  
  
• Dr. Stewart Gray—The biology of plant virus - insect vector interactions, virus diseases of potato and grain crops, virus disease management and epidemiology.
  
  
• Dr. Sondra Lazarowitz—Molecular mechanisms in virus-host interactions; molecular genetics of plant-virus movement and host resistance to virus infection; intra- and intercellular communications in plants.
  
  
• Dr. Kwangwon Lee—Characterizing light and clock regulations in fungi and their roles in pathogenic plant-microbe interactions using genomics, quantitative genetics and molecular biology tools.
  
  
• Dr. Rosemary Loria—Host-pathogen interactions; molecular genetic analysis of pathogenicity determinants.
  
  
• Dr. Gregory Martin—Elucidation of the molecular basis of recognition specificity displayed by disease resistance gene products and bacterial avirulence proteins
  
  
• Dr. Michael Milgroom—Population biology and evolution of plant pathogens; the integration of population biology and plant disease epidemiology.
  
  
• Dr.Eric Nelson—Ecology and development of oomycetes in the spermosphere and rhizosphere with special emphasis on plant pathogenic Pythium species. Of special interest is understanding how microbial interactions and plant associations influence Pythium development and pathogenesis.
  
  
• Dr. Rebecca Nelson—The genetics of quantitative disease resistance; international agriculture. We currently focus on two diseases of maize that are important both in the US and in Africa: northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot.
  
  
• Dr. Teresa Pawlowska—Biology and evolution of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (phylum Glomeromycota)
  
  
• Dr. Keith Perry—Cucumber mosaic virus and its vector transmission, pathogen diagnostics technologies, and potato viruses; Director of the NYS Foundation Potato Seed Program and the Uihlein Laboratory and Farm
  
  
• Dr. Gillian Turgeon—Genetics and molecular biology of fungal pathogens.
  
  
• Dr. Xiaohong Wang—Molecular basis of plant-nematode interactions, host resistance to the potato cyst nematodes.