Recognizing Plant Cell authors: Ken-Der Wang

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Ken-Der Wang, first author of OXYLIPINS OTHER THAN JASMONIC ACID ARE XYLEM-RESIDENT SIGNALS REGULATING SYSTEMIC RESISTANCE INDUCED BY TRICHODERMA VIRENS IN MAIZE

Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Charles Kenerley’s lab, at Texas A&M University

Education: PhD in Plant Pathology and Microbiology from Texas A&M University, M.Sc. in Biological Science at CSU Fullerton

Non-scientific Interests: traveling, biking, reading, movies, food, sports

Brief bio: I was first introduced to plant pathology at CSU Fullerton when I worked with Dr. Melanie Sacco on tobacco resistance against Poleroviruses. I joined the lab of Dr. Michael Kolomiets at Texas A&M University and worked on interactions between the beneficial fungus Trichoderma virens and maize for my Ph.D. My project focused specifically on important genes and signals that regulate T. virens-triggered induced systemic resistance (ISR), which protects the host plant from pathogen infection. The major findings of my dissertation research are presented in this article. I am currently training as a postdoctoral research associate under Dr. Charles Kenerley working on characterizing important T. virens genes that regulate T. virens-maize interactions, with many candidate genes identified through a large-scale transcriptome analysis.