Jeff Dangl pioneered the definition of the plant immune system. He discovered important classes of plant intracellular innate immune receptors and pathogen effector proteins that trigger their action. He synthesized the notion of a two-tiered plant immune system with Jonathan Jones, consisting of extracellular pattern recognition receptors and intracellular nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors in profoundly influential reviews.

Dr. Dangl’s lab provided critical experimental evidence to support indirect recognition of altered-self epitopes of plant proteins by intracellular innate immune receptors. Dr. Dangl additionally pioneered reductionist experimental platforms to study the plant microbiome. He studies community structure of plant microbiomes to define design rules for the successful invasion and persistence of single strains or small bacterial consortia that will enhance plant health and productivity. The lab is very interested in understanding how the plant immune system molds the microbiome and vice versa.

Dr. Dangl is an elected member of the US National Academy of Science, the German Academy of Science (“Die Leopoldina’”) and the UK Royal Society. In 2025, he was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture together with Jonathan Jones and Brian Staskawicz, for their pioneering discoveries related to the plant immune system.