My interest lies in understanding how fungal development is regulated at the cellular and molecular levels and how it reflects on the interaction of fungi with other organisms, particularly plants. Current projects are focused on analysis of fungal apoptosis and the role that it plays in disease development, basic mechanisms underlying pathogenicity of necrotrophic fungi, and study of endophytes in wheat-related wild grasses.

Our goals are:

• To generate detailed knowledge of fungal apoptotic networks in order to develop novel antifungal compounds that will target the apoptotic machinery
• To determine the role of apoptosis in fungal pathogenicity

Specific topics:

• Genomic and bioinformatics analyses of the plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea to identify proteins of the apoptotic network.
• Elucidating the roles of specific apoptotic proteins using genetic, molecular and biochemical approaches:
• Screens for identification of compounds that target the fungal apoptotic machinery and might be used for development of novel antifungal drugs

Additional projects:

• Genetic analysis of Botrytis-Arabidopsis interaction
• Regulation of spore germination
• A server for identification of fungal proteins. We have developed a database and an automated search program to identify fungal homologs of proteins and domains from other organisms.