Andrew Bent

About

Andrew Bent is a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research examines the genetic and molecular basis of plant disease resistance, focusing on plant immune systems and host-pathogen interactions. His work aims to identify and study genes and biochemical processes involved in pathogen recognition, defense signal transduction, and resistance responses, with a particular emphasis on loci of agricultural utility. Bent's research has transitioned from studying Arabidopsis thaliana and bacterial pathogens to focusing on soybean, especially mechanisms of resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN), a major pathogen affecting soybean crops. He investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying resistance conferred by the soybean Rhg1 locus, including the role of gene copy number variation and specific gene products. His previous work includes exploring poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation in plant responses to infection, plant detection of bacterial flagellin, and the function of cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels in host defense. Bent has contributed to developing efficient plant transformation methods and has taught courses related to plant-microbe interactions and plant disease resistance. His research facilitates marker-assisted breeding, gene editing, and biotech approaches to improve disease resistance in crops.

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Chemistry
• Cell biology
• Computational biology

Selected publications

• The genome and lifestage-specific transcriptomes of a plant-parasitic nematode and its host reveal susceptibility genes involved in trans-kingdom synthesis of vitamin B5

  Nature Communications · 2022-10-19 · 89 citations

  articleOpen access

  Plant-parasitic nematodes are a major threat to crop production in all agricultural systems. The scarcity of classical resistance genes highlights a pressing need to find new ways to develop nematode-resistant germplasm. Here, we sequence and assemble a high-quality phased genome of the model cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii to provide a platform for the first system-wide dual analysis of host and parasite gene expression over time, covering all major parasitism stages. Analysis of the hologen…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Exploring Soybean Resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode

  Annual Review of Phytopathology · 2022-05-19 · 62 citations

  review1st authorCorresponding

  Resistance to the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is a topic incorporating multiple mechanisms and multiple types of science. It is also a topic of substantial agricultural importance, as SCN is estimated to cause more yield damage than any other pathogen of soybean, one of the world's main food crops. Both soybean and SCN have experienced jumps in experimental tractability in the past decade, and significant advances have been made. The rhg1-b locus, deployed on millions of farm acres, has been dur…

  PublisherDOI

• The <i>rhg1‐a</i> ( <i>Rhg1</i> low‐copy) nematode resistance source harbors a copia‐family retrotransposon within the <i>Rhg1‐</i> encoded α‐SNAP gene

  Plant Direct · 2019-08-01 · 34 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Soybean growers widely use the R esistance to H eterodera g lycines 1 ( Rhg1 ) locus to reduce yield losses caused by soybean cyst nematode (SCN). Rhg1 is a tandemly repeated four gene block. Two classes of SCN resistance‐conferring Rhg1 haplotypes are recognized: rhg1‐a (“Peking‐type,” low‐copy number, three or fewer Rhg1 repeats) and rhg1‐b (“PI 88788‐type,” high‐copy number, four or more Rhg1 repeats). The rhg1‐a and rhg1‐b haplotypes encode α‐SNAP (alpha‐ S oluble N SF A ttachment P…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Coordinated regulation of plant immunity by poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation and K63-linked ubiquitination

  Molecular Plant · 2021-08-18 · 30 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Lost in translation: What we have learned from attributes that do not translate from Arabidopsis to other plants

  The Plant Cell · 2025-05-01 · 26 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Research in Arabidopsis thaliana has a powerful influence on our understanding of gene functions and pathways. However, not everything translates from Arabidopsis to crops and other plants. Here, a group of experts consider instances where translation has been lost and why such translation is not possible or is challenging. First, despite great efforts, floral dip transformation has not succeeded in other species outside Brassicaceae. Second, due to gene duplications and losses throughout evolut…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Poly (ADP-ribosyl)ation in Plant Responses to Pathogens

  NSF · $648k · 2010–2014

• NIH Grant R29GM053595

  NIH · $548k · 2002

Frequent coauthors

• James H. Naismith

  University of Oxford

  23 shared

• Roger W. Innes

  Indiana University

  21 shared

• Wael E. Houssen

  University of Aberdeen

  20 shared

• Brian J. Staskawicz

  Innovative Genomics Institute

  17 shared

• Marcel Jaspars

  University of Aberdeen

  16 shared

• I-ching Yu

  Taichung Veterans General Hospital

  16 shared

• Barbara N. Kunkel

  Washington University in St. Louis

  10 shared

• Jesko Koehnke

  10 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Biology

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1989

• B.A./Biology

  Oberlin College

  1983

Awards & honors

• AAAS Fellow
• APS Fellow (American Phytopathological Society)
• APS Noel Keen Award (for sustained research excellence in mo…

Similar researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Paul Ahlquisth-110
• Jo Handelsmanh-86
• Caitilyn Allenh-49