Axel A. Elling
Assistant Professor
Research Specialty and Interests
Nematodes cause substantial yield losses to a large number of crops worldwide. Plant-parasitic nematodes have evolved different mechanisms to overcome host defenses and to establish themselves inside their host plants. While some species have developed a sedentary life style by initiating and carefully maintaining elaborate feeding sites, others migrate from host cell to host cell, each of which is in turn destroyed by the nematode.
We are studying the molecular interactions between nematodes and their host plants and the processes that lead to successful parasitism. Our long-term goal is to generate novel, environmentally friendly approaches to control plant-parasitic nematodes that are based on molecular strategies. We are currently interested in the molecular events that lead to successful plant parasitism of the Columbia root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne chitwoodi) and root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.).
Within these two projects, we are employing a number of state-of-the-art molecular techniques to identify and functionally characterize nematode genes (parasitism genes) that encode secreted effectors, which the nematode injects into infected host cells. Effectors are the molecular interface between the parasite and its host. Understanding the precise roles of individual nematode effectors during parasitism will allow us to alter the molecular interactions between parasitic nematodes and their hosts in order to develop novel resistance mechanisms. Additionally, we are studying individual host plant genes that respond to nematode infection and are using functional genomics to unravel molecular plant-nematode interactions at a large scale.
Professional Experience
- Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University (2009-present)
- Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University (2007-2009)
Education
- Ph.D. (Genetics), Iowa State University (2006)
- B.Sc. (Plant Production Sciences), Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Germany (2001)
Awards/Honors/Memberships
- Brown-Coxe Postdoctoral Fellowship, Yale University (2007)
- Research Excellence Award, Iowa State University (2006)
- Storkan-Hanes-McCaslin Research Foundation Scholarship (2003)
- Gamma Sigma Delta (2003)
- American Phytopathological Society
- International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
- Society of Nematologists
- Organization of Nematologists of Tropical America
Selected Publications
Charron, J.B., He, H., Elling, A.A. and Deng, X.W. (2010): Dynamic landscapes of four histone modifications during deetiolation in Arabidopsis. In press, Plant Cell
Wang, X., Elling, A.A., Li, X., Li, N., Peng, Z., He, G., Sun, H., Qi, Y., Liu, X.S. and Deng, X.W. 2009. Genome-wide and organ-specific landscapes of epigenetic modifications and their relationships to mRNA and small RNA transcriptomes in maize. Plant Cell 21: 1053-1069.
Elling, A.A., Mitreva, M., Gai, X., Martin, J., Recknor, J., Hussey, R.S., Davis, E.L., Nettleton, D., McCarter, J.P. and Baum, T.J. 2009. Sequence mining and transcript profiling to explore cyst nematode parasitism. BMC Genomics 10: 58. (Highly accessed)
Guo, L., Zhou, J., Elling, A.A., Charron, J.B. and Deng, X.W. 2008. Histone modifications and expression of light-regulated genes in Arabidopsis are cooperatively influenced by changing light conditions. Plant Physiology 147: 2070-2083.
Elling, A.A., Mitreva, M., Recknor, J., Gai, X., Martin, J., Maier, T.R., McDermott, J.P., Hewezi, T., McK. Bird, D., Hussey, R.S., Davis, E.L., Nettleton, D., McCarter, J.P. and Baum, T.J. 2007. Divergent evolution of arrested development in the dauer stage of Caenorhabditis elegans and the infective stage of Heterodera glycines. Genome Biology 8: R211.
Elling, A.A., Davis, E.L., Hussey, R.S. and Baum T.J. 2007. Active uptake of Heterodera glycines parasitism proteins into the plant cell nucleus. International Journal for Parasitology 37: 1269-1279. (Cover article)
Mazarei, M., Elling, A.A., Maier, T.R., Puthoff, D.P. and Baum, T.J. 2007. GmEREBP1 is a transcription factor activating defense genes in soybean and Arabidopsis. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 20: 107-119.
Mitreva, M., Elling, A.A., Dante, M., Kloek, A.P., Kalyanaraman, A., Aluru, S., Clifton, S.W., McK. Bird, D.M., Baum, T.J. and McCarter, J.P. 2004. A survey of SL1-spliced transcripts from the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans. Molecular Genetics and Genomics 272: 138-148
Johnson Hall 335 (office) &
362/364/368 (lab)
Tel.: (509) 335-3742
Fax: (509) 335-9581
E-mail: elling@wsu.edu
Professional Activities:
- Associate Editor, Plant Disease
- APS Nematology Committee
- SON Education Committee
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