Genetic resistance to many diseases that plague crop plants can often be found in closely related wild species. Resistance to the fungal rice pathogen Sclerotium oryze, for example, was integrated into rice from its weedy relative Oryza rufipogon. For her doctoral work, Leslie Snyder is characterizing this introgressed resistance by examining the way the pathogen infects and interacts with rice to cause stem rot disease. Advisor: Thomas Tai, USDA Rice Geneticist. Plant Sciences Department, Genetics Graduate Group.