I received my PhD from the Hebrew University (Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot) in 2011, under the supervision of Prof. Saul Burdman. My thesis dealt with basic and applied aspects of a bacterial disease of cucurbits (melon, watermelon, etc.) caused by the plant pathogenic bacterium, Acidovorax citrulli.

After graduating from the Hebrew University I went on to do my postdoctoral training in the lab of Prof. Pamela Ronald, at UC Davis. Pam’s lab studies an important bacterial disease of rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. After three years in Pam’s lab, two of which were supported by a BARD postdoctoral fellowship, I came back to Israel in 2014 and started my own lab in Volcani Center (ARO).

The main theme of the lab is the study of plant-bacteria interactions. We focus on plant diseases caused by insect-vectored fastidious bacteria. These are, mostly, uncultivable plant pathogens that are transmitted from one plant to another by an appropriate insect vector. Diseases caused by these bacteria are gaining a lot of attention in recent years. Devastating disease outbreaks such as citrus greening in South and North America, Xylella fastidiosa in olives in south Italy and Liberibacter in potatoes and carrot serve as an example to the devastating potential of these pathogens and warrants a more intensive study of these diseases.

We also study the role of bacterial outer membrane vesicles in plant-bacteria interactions. Recently, we discovered that bacterial vesicles carry antigens and can elicit an immune response in plants. We are currently studying the mechanisms governing the interactions between these vesicles and the plant immune system and also the role of these vesicles in plant colonization.

A third important topic we study is integrated disease management. Effective tools to combat plant diseases are not always available and many of them, which are based on poisonous chemical applications, are constantly been banned for use. In my lab we thrive to develop new tools that will enable farmer to control disease in an integrated and environmentally-friendly approaches. These tools include novel biocontrol agents, transgenic approaches, genome editing and more.