What we study
Plant defense is not a static biological process – it is influenced by dynamic factors such as developmental stage, morphology, tissue type, and the circadian clock. Our research program uses various non‑model species and a hypothesis driven, systems approach to examine how these factors impact plant defense. We are particularly fascinated by how plants have navigated the fine line between growth and defense, evolving different strategies to optimize interactions with their microbial environments to maximize fitness.
Time of day
Circadian mediated defenses
Organ specificity
Development of specialized tissues for localized defense.
Development
Developmental or ontogenic changes in preformed defenses
How we do it
Transcriptomics
Differential expression
Allele specific expression
Network biology
Complex large sample biological gene expression networks
Genome assembly
Haplotype resolved assembly of highly heterozygous species