Building Careers in Plant
Pathology and Microbiology
A Graduate Student Profile of Nian Wang
Nian Wang is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Plant Pathology & Microbiology. He is
working in Dr. Dennis Gross's lab on Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, which causes cankers,
blossom blights, and leaf spots in several economically important plants. A distinctive feature
of this bacterium is the production of two lipopeptide toxins, syringomycin and syringopeptin
that are major virulence factors in plant pathogenesis Nian Wang mainly focuses on the regulation
of production of both toxins. Recently, the promoters of the syr-syp genes have been characterized.
The effects of plant signal molecules on syringopeptin have also been clarified. Moreover, the
understanding of several regulators including SalA, SyrF, RpoD, and so on are also in process.
Nian Wang is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Plant Pathology & Microbiology. He is
working in Dr. Dennis Gross's lab on Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, which causes cankers,
blossom blights, and leaf spots in several economically important plants. A distinctive feature
of this bacterium is the production of two lipopeptide toxins, syringomycin and syringopeptin
that are major virulence factors in plant pathogenesis Nian Wang mainly focuses on the regulation
of production of both toxins. Recently, the promoters of the syr-syp genes have been characterized.
The effects of plant signal molecules on syringopeptin have also been clarified. Moreover, the
understanding of several regulators including SalA, SyrF, RpoD, and so on are also in process.