Plant-Microbes Interactions
Microbes establish complex interactions with plants that vary from beneficial to parasitic relationships. Studies in this research area are aimed at deciphering plant and microbial signals, and gene networks and molecules that regulate the interaction. Deep understanding of how plants defend themselves from pathogenic species or accommodate beneficial microbes is critical for our ability to control pathogens and prevent diseases, and for utilization of beneficial microbial agents in crop improvement.
Research at the School includes studies of the plant immune system, with particular attention to molecular components that detect pathogens or participate in immune signalling, biology of bacterial and fungal pathogens with emphasis on effectors and other virulence factors, plant microbial communities (microbiome), and development of disease resistant plants.
Potential research subjects include: plant immunity, fungal and bacterial pathogens, microbiome, isolation and analysis of disease resistance genes, and production of disease resistant plants.
Researchers in this field:
Prof. Amir Sharon
Our lab has two main research areas: (1) Biology of plant pathogenic fungi and their interactions with plants, (2) Isolation of disease resistance genes from wild species and their use in development of disease resistant wheat. In the first project we study the interaction of the plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea with plants (Bi et al., 2022). We use molecular genetics as well as plant pathology approaches to obtain deep knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that regulate Botrytis – plant interactions (Bi et al., 2021) and use it for development of alternative disease control methods that will help reducing the use of synthetic fungicides. In the second project we use advanced genomic methods to isolate new disease resistance genes from a collection of wheat wild relatives (Avni et al., 2022; Yu et al., 2022a,b). We use genetic transformation and gene editing methods to generate disease-resistance wheat.
Lab Website: https://www.amirsharonlab.sites.tau.ac.il/
Prof. Adi Avni
Our lab has two main research areas: 1. We focus on understanding the signal transduction pathway by which a fungal protein effector (MAMP) induces innate immunity in plants. We address this question from several angles: We use a genetic approach, gene editing (CRISPR) to isolate the plant gene controlling the plant response to the fungal protein. 2. We develop biosensors for agriculture where we use micro and nano-scale technologies in collaboration with electrical engineering. Our goal is to develop low-cost sensors that will be integrated into the plant (i.e. leaves, stem, rhizosphere, etc.) for early detection of various parameters that are of interest to the key factors in the food chain (i.e. farmers, wholesalers, transportation, government, and the food industry in general and the customers). To do that we use bio-convergence for direct sensing of plants’ health status, using the plants as sensors themselves. In our research, we integrate methods of synthetic biology, biotechnology, and electrochemical and electronic impedance spectroscopy (EIS).
Lab Website: https://adiavni.weebly.com/
