Ph.D., Virginia Tech., 1980   Lab and Class Website My research centers on studying bacterial plant pathogens. Much of my research focuses on the ecology and host-parasite interaction of bacterial plant pathogens. I am interested in plant pathogen variation as measured by phenotypic and genotypic analyses. Techniques used in my laboratory for studying variation include fatty acid analysis, serology, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, DNA homology and sequence analysis of 16S rRNA. Much of my work has focused on bacterial spot disease of pepper and tomato caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria. I am interested in resistant mechanisms in bacterial-plant interactions. My present approach is to use genetic recombination techniques to isolate avirulence genes involved in the interaction. I am also studying microbe interactions on plant surfaces and in plant tissue in an attempt to determine mechanisms that affect microbe fitness. I also teach the Bacterial Plant Pathogens course.