Ralph Dean

Bio

Dr. Dean’s research program has employed Magnaporthe oryzae, the most destructive fungal disease of rice world-wide as a model to understand the mechanisms regulating host-pathogen interactions for more than 25 years.  His work focuses on both fundamental knowledge of the infection process as well as genome-enabled applications for disease control.  Following the completion of the genome sequence under his leadership, his lab currently focuses on:

1. Application of Host-Induced Gene Silencing (HIGS) for preventing rice blast disease and elucidating the mechanisms of cross-kingdom small RNA movement.
2. Interrogation of post-translational protein modifications (phosphorylation and ubiquitination) regulating the infection process.
3. Identification and characterization of effector protein targets in rice that suppress recognition of the pathogen.
4. Elucidation of the endogenous core microbiome for enhancing rice growth and production.

In addition, Dean is spearheading a new initiative: The Plant Electronic Interface.  This cross-disciplinary initiative with colleagues from the College of Engineering is aimed to develop a new generation of sensor array technology for plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to enable the early detection of abiotic and biotic stress in plants and further understanding of stress response mechanisms in plants.  He recently co-organized a major international symposium, Stewards of the Future, Communicating with Plants https://cals.ncsu.edu/stewards-of-the-future/

Publications

• Genome assembly and comparative analysis of Alternaria Linariae reveal novel genes associated with host colonization and virulence , BMC GENOMICS (2025)
• Use of the Puccinia sorghi haustorial transcriptome to identify and characterize AvrRp1-D recognized by the maize Rp1-D resistance protein , PLOS PATHOGENS (2024)
• Distinct dynamics of the nucleolus in response to nutrient availability and during development in the rice blast fungus , MBIO (2023)
• Issue Information , MOLECULAR PLANT PATHOLOGY (2023)
• Plant Disease Detection Using an Electronic Nose , 2023 IEEE SENSORS (2023)
• Tissues and mechanisms associated with Verticillium wilt resistance in tomato using bi-grafted near-isogenic lines , JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY (2023)
• Host induced gene silencing of Magnaporthe oryzae by targeting pathogenicity and development genes to control rice blast disease , FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE (2022)
• Electronic nose system based on a functionalized capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array for selective detection of plant volatiles , SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL (2021)
• Soybean Cyst Nematodes Influence Aboveground Plant Volatile Signals Prior to Symptom Development , FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE (2021)
• Comparative Genome Analyses of 18 Verticillium dahliae Tomato Isolates Reveals Phylogenetic and Race Specific Signatures , FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY (2020)