Dennis Halterman
Research Geneticist
USDA/ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit
Madison, WI U.S.A.
Joined IS-MPMI in 2001
Current/past positions: EIC of IS-MPMI Interactions 2017-present

Dennis’s research is focused on identifying and characterizing disease resistance genes from wild species relatives of cultivated potato. His research involves a wide range of disciplines that include genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, plant pathology, and plant breeding. For the past ten years, a major focus of Dennis’s work has been molecular interactions that condition resistance and susceptibility to the late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans but his also interested in studying resistance to several other important diseases.

Frederick M. Ausubel
Professor of Genetics
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA U.S.A.
Helped establish IS-MPMI in 1990
Editor-in-Chief MPMI 1992-1994

Frederick’s work mostly concerns host-microbe interactions. In the 1970s and 1980s, his laboratory worked on the molecular basis of symbiotic nitrogen fixation. In the mid 1980s, the lab switched to studying bacterial and fungal pathogenesis using the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana as a model host. The overall goal has been to elucidate Arabidopsis immune signaling pathways. The Ausubel lab is currently in the process of closing down as Frederick prepares for retirement in September 2018.

Paola Bonfante
Professor, Plant Biology
Department of Life Science and Systems Biology
University of Torino
Current positions: IS-MPMI Interactions Advisory Team, 2017-present

Paola’s research is focused on the biology of symbiotic associations, mainly mycorrhizas. She has studied the intimate interactions that occur between mycorrhizal fungi and plants, mostly focusing on cell plant re-organization upon AM fungal entry by using cellular and molecular approaches. Applying DNA technologies, early in the nineties, she provided contribution to the knowledge of mycorrhizal diversity in natural and agricultural environments. She has discovered a group of endobacteria which live inside mycorrhizal fungi and may modulate some of the functional traits of their fungal hosts. Her major current projects are focused on rice, wheat, and tomato responses to soil microbiota.

Alan Collmer
Andrew J. and Grace B. Nichols Professor
School of Integrative Plant Science
Section of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology
Cornell University
Joined IS-MPMI in 1984
Current/past positions: Editorial Advisory Board for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, American Phytopathological Society, 1989-1991; Associate Editor for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 1987-1996; IS-MPMI Board Secretary 1996-2000

Alan’s research investigates the molecular basis of bacterial virulence in plants, with a focus on protein secretion systems and their traffic. His work in recent years has focused on Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 genomics and the functional interactions among effectors injected into plants by the type III secretion system.

Allan Downie
Professor, Department of Molecular Microbiology
John Innes Centre

Allan has worked for over 35 years on the interactions between rhizobia and legumes. He has a particular interest in how rhizobia use Nod factors to activate developmental programmes in the plant to set up infection structures and to induce nodule morphogenesis. Perception of Nod factors results in the activation of multiple pathways, with higher specificity for infection than for nodule development. Using legume mutants defective for infection he has been involved in the identification of components required for initiation and maintenance of the plant-made infection structures.

Dan Klessig
Professor, Boyce Thompson Institute and School of Integrative Plant Science
Cornell University
IS-MPMI member since 1990

Dan’s research spans the plant and human health fields. During his early career, he focused on DNA tumor viruses, which lead to the discovery of split genes and RNA splicing. In the mid 1980, he initiated a research program in plant pathology, which focused on role of salicylic acid (SA) in plant immunity. In addition to SA, his group identified other important factors which contribute to plant immunity, including nitric oxide, MAP Kinases, cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels, fatty acid desaturases, and nematode ascarosides. Using the methods and approaches developed to identify SA targets in plants, his group has recently uncovered several new targets in humans, which are involved in many of the most prevalent and devastating diseases, including heart disease, arthritis, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. Natural and synthetic derivatives are also being identified, which are 50-1000 times more potent at inhibiting the disease-associated activities of these targets.