Two independent research programs are being pursued. The evolution of virulence using the model plant-pathogen system of Pseudomonas syringae and Arabidopsis thaliana .
Specific interests concern the origin, evolution and maintenance of secreted virulence proteins.
The evolution of sex chromosomes and sex determination systems. This study centers on the recently evolved X-Y sex determination system of the dioecious plant, Silene latifolia . Charlesworth, D. and D.S. Guttman . The evolution of dioecy and plant sex chromosome systems. C.C. Ainsworth editor, BIOS Scientific Publishers Limited, Oxford, pp25-49.