David C. Straney

Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies

Associate Professor

Ph.D., Yale University, 1987
Telephone: (301) 405-1622
Fax: (301) 314-9082
E-mail: straney@umd.edu

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Research Interests: My interests are in the regulation of gene expression and development in response to external cues. Plant-pathogen interactions provide a wealth of systems where inter-organismal signaling determines the specificity of the interaction. The chemical nature of plant defenses and the specificity of defense chemicals used by any one plant species provides for fungal recognition of the host through recognition of these defense compounds. My lab uses the tools of molecular biology to study the components and signal pathways through which a fungal pathogen recognizes its host and triggers the expression of genes or developmental steps needed for pathogenesis.