Jeff Dangl studies the genetic and molecular mechanisms that enable plant-microbe communication. Specifically, Dangl and his team investigate how the plant immune system discriminates between microbial friend and foe in a complex environment, using tools and techniques from genomic, structural, cellular, and molecular biology. Dangl’s aim is to more effectively combat microbial pathogens and pests that harm crop yield, while simultaneously diminishing the use of chemicals to control plant disease.
Researchers have pieced together the mechanism by which key plant immune proteins kill their cells to defend against pathogens. New research begins to explain how plants separate microbes they like from those they don’t like. Scientists have catalogued and compared the hundreds of types of bacteria that associate with the roots of the model plant Arabidopsis under various conditions. Fifteen scientists working in the plant sciences gain flexible support from HHMI and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to move their research in creative new directions.