Lei Zhang

Title:

Assistant Professor

PhD Granting Institution:

Washington State University

Contact:

Email Address: leizhang@purdue.edu
Office Phone: 765-494-1933
Lab Website Link: https://ag.purdue.edu/btny/Pages/Profile.aspx?strAlias=leizhang&intDirDeptID=10

Primary Training Group:

Plant Biology

Secondary Training Groups:

Biotechnology

Research Areas:

Molecular plant-nematode interactions.

Current Projects:

Plant-parasitic nematodes are microscopic soil-borne roundworms, they infect and damage plant roots causing annual crop losses valued at $80-$118 billion worldwide. With most of front-line nematicides being banned due to their extreme toxicity, it is urgent to develop new methods for nematode control. We focus on two groups of plant-parasitic nematodes: 1) Soybean cyst nematode (SCN), the most damaging pathogen of soybean in the US. We study distributions and virulence of SCN populations on soybean fields in Indiana to provide information to growers for effective SCN management. We are also interested in developing new bio-control agents for SCN. 2) Root-knot nematodes (RKNs) cause serious problems in melons and vegetables in Indiana. RKNs secrete effector proteins to root cells to facilitate their infection of plants. Our lab focuses on studying how nematode effectors manipulate plant processes at molecular levels during parasitism. Our goal is to translate the knowledge and develop crop resistance against RKNs by disrupting the molecular plant-nematode interactions using technologies such as gene editing and host-delivered RNAi.