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Plants and Pathogens

Microbial diseases and pests among food crops pose substantial threats to global food security. Plants have evolved diverse and robust immune systems, making disease the exception rather than the rule in natural environments.

Together with her team, Dr. Jacqueline Monaghan, Canada Research Chair in Plant Immunology, studies the unexplored biochemical mechanisms that tailor immune signaling to maintain cellular homeostasis. Her team harnesses the power of genetics in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to examine how immune proteins are activated and repressed, and how they influence normal growth and development. Just as understanding the human immune system is important to the development of effective drugs and vaccines, understanding the plant immune system is important for effectively managing crop diseases.