JLewis

Jennifer Lewis
Jennifer D.
Lewis
Plant Disease and Immunity
Adjunct Associate Professor
Email: 
jdlewis@berkeley.edu
Phone: 
510-559-5909
Lab Phone: 
510-559-5964

PhD                          Cornell University        2006
Hon. B.Arts&Sci.    McMaster University   1998

Research

Pseudomonas syringae uses the syringe-like Type III Secretion System (T3SS) to inject Type III Secreted Effector (T3SE) proteins into the plant host. The primary role of T3SE proteins is believed to be the suppression of innate immunity. Recognition of effector proteins by the host Resistance (R) proteins results in the initiation of defense responses, including the hypersensitive response (HR). The pathogen can then evolve or acquire new T3SE proteins that evade the host defense response.

Given these dual roles of virulence and defense induction, T3SEs provide excellent tools to probe innate immunity in plants. My lab focuses on identifying new components in innate immunity and understanding their roles in defense, using a wide variety of experimental approaches.

Recent Publications

Jennifer D. Lewis, Timothy Lo, Patrick Bastedo, David S. Guttman and Darrell Desveaux. (2014) The rise of the undead: pseudokinases as mediators of effector-triggered immunity. Plant signaling & behavior 8(12): e27563. Link

Amy Huei-Yi Lee, Brenden Hurley, Corinna Felsensteiner, Carmen Yea, Wenzislava Ckurshumova, Verena Bartetzko, Pauline W. Wang, Van Quach, Jennifer D. Lewis, Yulu C. Liu, Frederik Börnke, Stephane Angers, Andrew Wilde, David S. Guttman and Darrell Desveaux. (2012) “A bacterial acetyltransferase destroys plant microtubule networks and blocks secretion.” PLoS Pathogens 8(2): e1002523. pdf of article

Jennifer D. Lewis, Janet Wan, Rachel Ford, Yunchen Gong, Pauline Fung, Pauline Wang, David S. Guttman and Darrell Desveaux. (2012) “Quantitative Interactor Screening with next-generation Sequencing (QIS-Seq) identifies Arabidopsis thaliana MLO2 as a target of the Pseudomonas syringae type III effector HopZ2.”  BMC Genomics 13: 8. pdf of article

Jennifer D. Lewis, Amy Huei-Yi Lee, Wenbo Ma, Huanbin Zhou, David S. Guttman and Darrell Desveaux. (2011) “The YopJ superfamily of type III effectors in plant-associated bacteria.”  Molecular Plant Pathology 12(9): 928-937. pdf of article

Jennifer D. Lewis, Ronald Wu, David S. Guttman and Darrell Desveaux. (2010) “Allele-specific virulence attenuation of the Pseudomonas syringae HopZ1a type III effector via the Arabidopsis ZAR1 resistance protein.” PloS Genetics 6(4): e1000894. pdf of article

Jennifer D. Lewis, David S. Guttman and Darrell Desveaux. (2009) “The targeting of plant cellular systems by injected type III effectors.” Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 20(9): 1055-1063. pdf of article

Jennifer D. Lewis, Karl Schreiber and Darrell Desveaux. (2009) “The needle and the damage done: type III effectors and the plant immune response.” In Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, edited by K. Bouarab, N. Brisson and F. Daayf. Oxon: CAB International, p. 179-210.

Jennifer D. Lewis, Wasan Abada, Wenbo B. Ma, David S. Guttman and Darrell Desveaux. (2008) “The HopZ family of Pseudomonas syringae type III effectors require myristoylation for virulence and avirulence functions in Arabidopsis thaliana.” Journal of Bacteriology 190(8): 2880-2891. pdf of article