Jun Fan

2011.11-Present   Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University.

2000.02-2011.11  Postdoctoral Researcher at John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK.

1997.03-1998.12  Visiting Researcher, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, California, USA.

1994.07-2000.02  Lecturer, Department of Plant Pathology, Beijing Agricultural University.

Plants have evolved complex defense systems to protect against a vast array of pathogens but crop production is still frequently hit by costly and devastating diseases. The Fan lab seeks to understand the mechanisms underlying plant disease resistance and susceptibility. We are using the model plant species including Arabidopsis, Nicotiana benthamiana, and rice to investigate how pathogen-derived components are perceived by plant cells and subsequently trigger immune responses; we are also interested in understanding how pathogens manipulate plant cellular processes to favor disease development. Major research themes include the genetic and molecular dissection of plant responses to pathogen effectors or elicitors and the identification of plant genes or pathways conditioning disease susceptibility. These studies will deliver new findings that potentially facilitate the development of novel approaches to enhance durable resistance to agriculturally important crop diseases and thereby to ameliorate the negative environmental impacts of conventional crop protection practices.

The software works Patent