Richard A. Wilson

Blast is the most serious disease of cultivated rice and is mediated by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. Once within the plant host, the fungus grows from cell-to-cell in a symptomless, biotrophic manner for the first days of infection. Our long-term question asks: How do fungal cells thrive in plant cells? To answer this, our research is directed towards identifying novel genetic and biochemical processes that enable M. oryzae to access and adapt to the host cell during disease progression.