“ Rotting softly & stealthily   the bulbs underground... ” 

Our lab focuses on the immune responses of monocot flower bulbs, to necrotrophic bacterial pathogens from the genus Pectobacterium. These pathogens cause soft rot disease in potatoes, vegetables, and ornamentals. Several natural hosts of pectobacteria are of immense agricultural importance. The research integrates different disciplines including agrotechnology, breeding, phylogenetics, biotechnology, computational chemistry, and bioinformatics to manipulate plants and bacteria to improve and protect plants against bacterial soft rot. 

 

Unlocking the complexity and interdependence of the mechanisms that dictate the properties and processes of agricultural systems is a major goal of the Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center. To this end, our lab seeks to understand the systems that are involved in plant immunity and bacterial pathogenesis and how these systems function together. Our goal is to develop new sustainable strategies to control pathogenic bacteria in crop plants.