Marcus Dillon

Education

• PhD, University of New Hampshire
• BSc, Wake Forest University

Current Courses

• BIO370: Microbiology

Research

The emergence of infectious diseases has devastating socio-economic, health, and food security consequences. Our ultimate goal is to determine how evolution drives infectious disease emergence through the diversification of critical virulence factors. To accomplish this goal, we use a multidisciplinary approach that combines microbiology, experimental evolution, comparative genomics, and bioinformatics. By identifying and characterizing genomic changes that drive disease emergence, we will be able to more effectively forecast outbreaks and engineer more durable resistance in agriculture and medicine. Some of the key questions currently driving research in the lab are: 

1. What determines the fate of host-pathogen interactions?
2. How do novel infectious diseases emerge?
3. How does the population genetic environment impact AMR?

Current Lab Members

• Amandeep Kaur, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Viplav Agarwal, PhD Student
• David Chan, PhD Student
• Julia Marques, PhD Student
• Jamie Chew, MSc Student

Become a Lab Member

The Dillon Lab is actively recruiting graduate students for fully funded MSc and PhD positions. In the Dillon Lab, you will join an ongoing project and have the opportunity to develop your own research interests within the scope of our program. Opportunities are available for both wet-lab and computational projects. We especially encourage applicants from underrepresented groups who will contribute to further diversification of ideas in our research program. If you’re interested in a graduate position in our lab, please send your CV, transcripts, and a brief summary of your research interests and long-term career goals directly to Dr. Dillon (marcus.dillon@utoronto.ca). 

For more information on available opportunities, including opportunities for undergraduates and postdoctoral fellows, please visit the 'Join the Dillon Lab' webpage.

Recent Publications

For a complete list of publications, visit Dr. Dillon's Google Scholar page.

• Bull EM, Agarwal V, and Dillon MM. 2026. Pathological convergence of a bacterial plant pathogen is associated with the horizontal transfer of an effector-containing mobile element. BMC Genomics. 27: 400. 
• Kaur A, Jones JB, Goss EM, Aysan Y, and Dillon MM. 2026. Phylogenetic insights derived from six Xanthomonas draft genome sequences associated with bacterial spot disease of tomato and pepper in Turkey. Access Microbiology. 8 (2): 001144.
• Chan DTC, Agarwal V, Baltrus DA, and Dillon MM. 2025. Unified classification of the type III secreted effectors of bacterial plant pathogens to advance phytopathology research. Phytopathology. 115(10): 1315-1328.
• Newfeld J, Bull E, Shata E, Perc M, Tang RX, and Dillon MM. 2025. Diverse genetic mechanisms enable Pseudomonas syringae to rapidly overcome effector-triggered immunity. Molecular Plant Pathology. 26(6): e70102.
• Agarwal V, Stubits R, Nassrullah Z, and Dillon MM. 2023. Pangenome insights into the diversification and disease specificity of worldwide Xanthomonas outbreaks. Frontiers in Microbiology. 14: 1213261.