Plant Immune System Evolution

Plants possess an intricate immune system characterized by rapid evolution driven by diverse genomic mechanisms. Our research investigates the following fundamental questions:

1. What genomic features facilitate the rapid evolution of plant immune loci?
2. How do mutation, selection, and local adaptation shape the development and ongoing evolution of plant immunity?

We are addressing these questions using graph-theoretic approaches, leveraging advancements in pangenome graph analysis, and applying these methodologies to existing datasets in various plants.