Plant Pathology Professor Awarded Grant to Study the Involvement of Blue Light in Plant Immunity

East Campus pillars at enterance

September 1, 2015

Jim Alfano
Jim Alfano

Jim Alfano, professor in the Plant Pathology Department has been awarded a two-year, $264,889 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project entitled EAGER: The Involvement of Blue Light in Plant Immunity.

Plants are dependent on light for their survival and can perceive different colors of light with various sensors. Phototropins are blue light sensors that trigger a variety of plant responses that poise the plant for efficient photosynthesis. This project will determine the extent to which phototropins contribute to plant immunity. Alfano and his team will determine the molecular consequence of the interaction of phototropins with the injected bacterial protein and will determine whether blue light, through its influence on phototropins, has an effect on plant immunity.


Barbara Gnirk
Agricultural Research Division
402-472-7930
bgnirk1@unl.edu

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