[2][3] Zambryski is known for her work in the field of genetic engineering, specifically for her work with Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a bacterium she uses to track the molecular mechanisms that change plants and how plant cells communicate with each other.
[3] She has examined the structure of plant cells that have been altered by Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
[4] While working in Marc Van Montagu's lab, Zambryski determined how the Ti plasmid is identified by the bacterium, and she developed a vector that allowed the transfer of genetic material into a plant without altering the plant tissue.
[7] She has also examined plasmodesmata, which are the channels that reach across the spaces in plant cells.
[8][9] In 2001 she was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences[10] and a fellow of the American Society for Microbiology.