Cooper began his career studying genetically engineered virus resistance in plants. He has continued to research the plant immune system and its responses to viruses, bacteria and fungi. He is a pioneer in using mass spectrometry and systems biology approaches to deciphering cellular proteomic networks that protect plants from disease.
Publications:
Indole Alkaloid Production by the Halo Blight Bacterium Treated with the Phytoalexin Genistein (2024). Bret Cooper, Ronghui Yang and Kimberly B. Campbell. Phytopathology 114, 1196-1205. DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-11-23-0445-R.
Disruptive Effects of Resveratrol on a Bacterial Pathogen of Beans (2023). Bret Cooper. Journal of Proteome Research 22, 204-214. Published on-line before print December 13, 2022. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.2c00633
The Detriment of Salicylic Acid to the Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. phaseolicola Proteome (2022). Bret Cooper. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 9, 814-824. Published on-line before print May 25, 2022. DOI: 10.1094/MPMI-05-22-0104-R
Salicylic Acid and Phytoalexin Induction by a Bacterium that Causes Halo Blight in Beans (2022). Bret Cooper, Kimberly B. Campbell, and Wesley M. Garrett. Phytopathology 112, 1766-1775. Published on-line before print February 11, 2022. DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-12-21-0496-R
Bacterial Immobilization and Toxicity Induced by a Bean Plant Immune System (2021). Bret Cooper, Hunter S. Beard, Ronghui Yang, Wesley M. Garrett, and Kimberly B. Campbell. Journal of Proteome Research 20, 3664-3677. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00232
The Proteomics of Resistance to Halo Blight in Common Bean (2020). Bret Cooper, Kimberly B. Campbell, Hunter Beard, Wesley M Garrett, and Marcio E. Ferreira. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 33, 1161-1175. Published on-line before print July 7, 2020. DOI: 10.1094/MPMI-05-20-0112-R
Benzothiadiazole Conditions the Bean Proteome for Immunity to Bean Rust (2020). Bret Cooper, Hunter Beard, Wesley M. Garrett, and Kimberly B. Campbell. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. Published on-line before print January 30, 2020. DOI: 10.1094/MPMI-09-19-0250-R
Protection Against Common Bean Rust Conferred by a Gene-Silencing Method (2017). Bret Cooper and Kimberly B. Campbell. Phytopathology 107, 920-927. Published on-line before print May 30, 2017. DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-03-17-0095-R.
Disruption of Rpp1-mediated soybean rust immunity by virus-induced gene silencing (2013). Bret Cooper, Kimberly B. Campbell, Michael B. McMahon, and Douglas G. Luster. Plant Signaling & Behavior, 8, e27543-1-9; http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/psb.27543.
Nuclear Proteomic Changes Linked to Soybean Rust Resistance (2011). Bret Cooper, Kimberly B. Campbell, Jian Feng, Wesley M. Garrett and Reid Frederick. Molecular BioSystems 7, 773-783. Published on-line before print Dec. 3, 2010.
Affinity Purification and Mass Spectrometry: An Attractive Choice to Investigate Protein-Protein Interactions in Plant Immunity (2010). Ruiqiang Chen, Caren Chang, Mark L. Tucker and Bret Cooper. Current Proteomics 7, 258-264 (review).
Generation of Phaseolus vulgaris ESTs and Investigation of their Regulation upon Uromyces appendiculatus Infection (2009). Sandra Thibivilliers, Trupti Joshi, Kimberly B. Campbell, Brian Scheffler, Dong Xu, Bret Cooper, Henry T. Nguyen, and Gary Stacey. BMC Plant Biology 9, 46. Published on-line before print April 27, 2009.
Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Bean Plants Infected by a Virulent and Avirulent Obligate Rust Fungus (2009). Joohyun Lee, Kimberly B. Campbell, Brian E. Scheffler, Jian Feng, Daniel Q. Naiman, Wesley M. Garrett, Sandra Thibivilliers, Gary Stacey, Mark L. Tucker, M.A. Pastor-Corrales and Bret Cooper. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics 8, 19-31. Published on-line before print August 28, 2008.
A Network of Rice Genes Associated with Stress Response and Seed Development (2003). Bret Cooper, Joseph D. Clarke, Paul Budworth, Joel Kreps, Don Hutchison, Sylvia Park, Sonia Guimil, Molly Dunn, Peter Luginbühl, Cinzia Ellero, Stephen A. Goff, and Jane Glazebrook. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 4945-50; published online before print April 8 2003, 10.1073/pnas.0737574100.
Diverse RNA Viruses Elicit the Expression of Common Sets of Genes in Susceptible Arabidopsis thaliana Plants (2003). Steven A. Whitham, Sheng Quan, Bret Cooper, Bram Estes, Hur-Song Chang, Tong Zhu, Xun Wang and Yu-Ming Hou. Plant Journal 33, 271-283.
Constitutive Salicylic Acid-Dependent Signaling in cpr1 and cpr6 Mutants Requires PAD4 (2001). Dayadevi Jirage, Nan Zhou, Bret Cooper, Joseph D. Clarke, Xinnian Dong and Jane Glazebrook. Plant Journal 26, 395-407.
Collateral Gene Expression Changes Induced by Distinct Plant Viruses During the Hypersensitive Resistance Reaction in Chenopodium amaranticolor (2001). Bret Cooper. Plant Journal 26, 339-349.
Genetic Mechanisms for Engineering Host Resistance to Plant Viruses (1999). Bret Cooper. In Handbook of Biological Control. pp. 557-574. Ed. T.S. Bellows and T.W. Fisher. Academic Press, San Diego.
Functional Similarities between Plant Virus Movement Proteins and Approaches to Creating Transgenic Plants that Restrict Viral Movement (1995). Bret Cooper. Dissertation. University of California, Riverside.
A Defective Movement Protein of TMV in Transgenic Plants Confers Resistance to Multiple Viruses Whereas the Functional Analog Increases Susceptibility (1995). Bret Cooper, Moshe Lapidot, James A. Heick, J. Allan Dodds and Roger N. Beachy. Virology 206, 307-313.