The Stacey laboratory focuses on understanding plant signaling pathways that regulate plant-microbe interactions; for example, the initial signaling involved in the establishment of the nitrogen-fixing legume symbiosis. This research has expanded to study the functional genomics of the soybean root hair cell, a single-cell model for systems biology. The lab is examining the root hair response to rhizobia, which are nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria, as well as its response to various stresses such as heat and drought. Another lab focus is signaling between plants and bacterial or fungal pathogens; such as the role of chitin as an elicitor of plant disease resistance. The laboratory is working to improve the genetic and genomic tools available to study soybean, Missouri’s foremost crop. Thus, the lab has work underway that moves from very basic studies using plant models, such as Arabidopsis, to basic soybean studies to actual field studies with more practical, applied goals.