Pierluigi (Enrico) Bonello

Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

It is known that the vast majority of information on the nature, genetics and mechanisms of disease resistance in plants comes from studies of herbaceous angiosperms, particularly model plants and crop species. Thus, there is urgency in our need to fill the gaps concerning woody plant species. My lab is engaged in the elucidation of mechanisms involved in disease resistance/susceptibility in pine to fungal pathogens, with an emphasis on systemic effects. While the currently available information is centered around effects of pathogens on secondary metabolism, an effort is being made to initiate a functional genomics approach involving DNA array technology to dissect the molecular events underlying the defense responses. Evidence from other systems indicates that some of the same basic mechanisms of defense operate against both pathogens and insects. Thus, besides contributing to our basic understanding of disease resistance phenomena in trees, our work would potentially open up avenues of collaboration with tree entomologists that could result in major advances in the understanding and potential control of important tree disease/insect complexes.