My pronouns are she/her
Trained as a molecular and evolutionary geneticist, I am broadly interested in understanding how genetic variation within a species influences its adaptive potential in changing environments. My current research focuses on plant immunity, which is characterized by significant genetic variation in land plant species. Key questions driving our work in the Chae laboratory include: How does the plant immune system cope with constantly changing pathogen pressures using only innate immunity? Why do the genomic loci encoding immune receptors exhibit such tremendous diversity? And how does the immune system manage this extraordinary receptor diversity while relying on relatively simpler signalling hubs?
To address these questions, we leverage the DANGEROUS MIX (DM) autoimmunity system, discovered through hybrid necrosis studies. We have found that the DM system provides an excellent platform for exploring the evolution and function of plant immune systems. These autoimmune plants not only suffer from inadvertently activated immune responses but also experience developmental defects, reflecting a trade-off between immunity and growth. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we investigate how plants have evolved their complex, yet error-prone, immune systems and how they finely regulate both immunity and growth in parallel.
