Plant diseases are everywhere. It is vital to understand how plants defend themselves against pathogen threats from the changing environment (e.g., global warming and pollution, over usage of toxic chemicals during farming, growing population, etc.), which therefore is important for the well-being of humanity. The main goal of my research is to understand how plants turn on their immune systems upon recognition of different pathogens, and find means of controlling crop diseases, improving and advancing agriculture.

​

The Ding Lab at IBL Leiden is currently leading research on the following projects