[BSW] Next meeting, this Tuesday, February 7 at 7pm + Misc.

[KATHY BILTON]

The next BSW meeting will be on Tuesday, February 7 at 7pm.
Doors opening by 6:45pm.

Speaker: Dr. Emily Bruns, Department of Biology, University of Maryland

Topic: Evolution of Disease Resistance in Wild Plant Populations

Zoom link for February 7
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84854232102?pwd=RThPSDJoVk91bzJNRmhRR0FQN0Ntdz09
Meeting ID: 848 5423 2102
Passcode: 153154

Here is an overview of her talk:

Disease is a natural part of the ecology of wild plants. Strong disease
pressure in nature can drive the evolution of plant resistance traits.
However, the expression of resistance is not constant over a plant's
life-history.  Instead, a frequently observed pattern in crops and wild
plants is that seedlings and young plants are much more susceptible to
disease than older, mature plants. But why? Getting infected as a seedling
prior to reproduction is often far worse for an individual plant's fitness
than getting infected as an adult after having a chance at flowering. In
the talk I will explore several hypotheses concerning the evolution of
age-specific disease resistance in wild carnations (Dianthus pavonius) and
campions (Silene latifolia) to a sterilizing fungal pathogen
(Microbotryum, the causal agent of 'anther-smut disease'). The talk will
draw on observations of disease dynamics in wild populations in the alps,
as well as greenhouse studies of susceptibility and tradeoffs. 

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