Research Areas

Candidate effector characterizations in plant-pest interactions

Effectors play crucial roles in plant-pest interactions. More importantly, their mechanism of action and interaction type can vary with plant species and pest types. We aim to characterize novel pathogen effectors involved in the compatible and incompatible plant-pathogen interactions. In addition, the lab is having an extramural funded project, where the candidate effectors from brown planthopper (BPH) biotype 4 will be explored. Analyzing the roles of these pathogen/insect effectors will enable us to better understand the complex underlying mechanisms and take appropriate controlling measures.