Professor
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Education:
Brown University, Sc.B. Biology, 1984
University of York, M.Phil. Ecology, 1986
University of Washington, Ph.D. Zoology/Ecology, 1990
Research Summary:
The research in my laboratory focuses on the ecology and evolution of plant resistance and pathogen virulence. Our approach is to combine genomics, ecological field experiments and transgenic manipulations in order to explore adaptation and selective histories of ecologically important genes. Much work attempts to understand the evolutionary dynamics of the R-genes of Arabidopsis thaliana that are involved in gene-for-gene interactions with bacterial pathogens, but we are also interested in other defense related phenotypes as well as adaptation to the environment. We have simultaneously been examining how plant resistance affects bacterial communities living in and on Arabidopsis, and how a selection acts on pathogenicity in these bacteria. A secondary focus is on patterns of polymorphism in Arabidopsis, and the development of mapping populations for GWAS in this species.