Bozkurt Research Group

Founded in 2014, our lab is at the forefront of dissecting the intricate interactions between plants and pathogens. Our mission is to deepen the understanding of these complex relationships, paving the way for innovations in crop resilience and agricultural sustainability.

Our Approach: Combining traditional and cutting-edge methodologies, we employ a robust blend of fast-forward cell biology, biochemistry, and genetics to study plant cell autonomous immunity and evasion mechanisms employed by pathogens. We merge traditional sciences with AI innovation, notably using the AlphaFold2-multimer tool, to swiftly decode plant-pathogen interactions. Our multidisciplinary team focuses on revealing key molecular details that drive plant defense and pathogen countermeasures, aiming to develop effective, sustainable crop protection strategies.

Model pathosystem: Our primary research utilizes haustoria-forming oomycete pathogens, notably Phytophthora infestans and Peronospora tabacina, alongside select fungal species that target the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana within the Solanaceae family. Recently, we've broadened our scope to encompass plant viruses, diversifying our pathosystem portfolio and deepening our understanding of host-pathogen interactions.