Efforts in the Daub laboratory are focused on
understanding how fungi parasitize plants and
on isolating and characterizing genes that have
potential usefulness in the genetic engineering
of disease-resistant plants. We are characterizing
genes from fungi and bacteria that encode resistance
to and degradation of a photoactivated toxin important
in plant parasitism by Cercospora fungi, with
the goal of engineering plants that can withstand
the toxin and thus be resistant to these important
pathogens. In addition, we are investigating the
mechanisms used by fungal pathogens to counteract
active-oxygen-mediated defense reactions in plants,
as the ability to overcome these defenses is required
for disease development.
Key words: plant disease, plant genetic engineering,
fungal molecular biology, fungal toxins, active
oxygen |
