Past PMB Endowed Lectures
For a schedule of all Plant & Microbial Biology events, seminars, and lectures visit our calendar.
Kabir Peay: [Taylor-White Lecture] Mycorrhizal fungi and the future of forests in a changing climate
Kabir Peay’s research is filling critical gaps in our understanding of how mycorrhizal fungi respond to climate change through his use of large-scale DNA sequencing, biogeographic modeling, and manipulative experiments. Mutualisms forged by mycorrhizal fungi critically affect the resistance and resilience of forest trees faced with climate change, which impacts the carbon cycle through effects on...
J. Clark Lagarias: [Arnon Lecture] Bilins Everywhere: More than light harvesting
My lecture will focus on the origins, biochemistry and evolution of this diversity and will touch upon the surprising evidence that oxygenic photosynthesis is dependent on bilins for sustained chlorophyll synthesis in an oxic world.
Dianne K. Newman: [Kustu Lecture] Context matters: agathokakological roles for redox-active "antibiotics"
In this talk, Dr. Newman will explain what "agathokakological" means and how this word can help us understand the varied roles microbially-produced redox active metabolites play in diverse contexts, from the soil to chronic human infections. These compounds, many of which are striking pigments that change color when they are oxidized or reduced, can serve as toxins or as lifelines for the cells...
Tsujimoto Lecture: Deciphering the human gut microbiome with chemistry
The human body is colonized by trillions of microorganisms that exert a profound influence on human biology, in part by providing functional capabilities that extend beyond those of host cells. In particular, there is growing evidence linking chemical processes carried out by the human gut microbiome to diseases such as colorectal cancer. However, we still do not understand the vast majority of...
Buchanan Lecture: How plants sense and respond to karrikins, a class of growth regulators in smoke
Almost two decades ago, karrikins were identified in smoke as germination stimulants of plants that emerge after fire. Karrikins have since been shown to affect many aspects of plant development, putatively because they mimic an unknown endogenous hormone. I will present our current understanding of how karrikins are perceived by plants and how karrikin signaling is attenuated through feedback control mechanisms.
Taylor-White Lecture w/Toby Kiers
Underground, mycorrhizal fungi form complex networks of filamentous hyphae that connect plant roots. The fungus mobilizes phosphorus and nitrogen, and trades these for host carbon in a market-like exchange. While the ubiquity and importance of underground networks is established, we have no mechanistic understanding of how a fungus evaluates its trade environment. Fungi must integrate a complex...
Siobhan Braybrook: What do walls have to do with it? Multiscale implications for growth and survival
Carbohydrate-based cell walls show up all over the tree of life, including in several multicellular lineages. In this talk, we will explore how cell walls are central to the growth and survival of organisms in two groups: plants and brown algae (seaweeds).
Rytas Vilgalys: Taylor-White Lecture: Genetics of fungal colonization associated with global exotic forestry: insights from pines and their symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi
Rytas Vilgalys. Ph.D., Virginia Polytech Institute and State University, 1985 MS Botany, Virginia Tech, 1982 M.S., Virginia Polytech Institute and State University, 1981 BA Botany, State University of New York College at Geneseo, 1978 B.A., State University of New York, Geneseo, 1978
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Susan Golden: Arnon Lecture: Circadian regulation of gene expression in vivo and in vitro
Susan Golden received a B.A. (1978) in Biology from Mississippi University for Women and a Ph.D. (1983) in Genetics from the University of Missouri. After postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago, she joined the faculty of Biology at Texas A&M University (1986).
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