Dr. Wollman is the Director of the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique in Paris, France. His work is dedicated to the study of the biogenesis and the function of the photosynthetic apparatus, which is present in the network of internal membranes of the chloroplast, the thylacoids.
Past PMB Endowed Lectures
For a schedule of all Plant & Microbial Biology events, seminars, and lectures visit our calendar.
Fitnat Yildiz: Kustu Lecture: Mechanisms and Consequences of Biofilm Formation
Fitnat Yildiz's lab at UCSC focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms of biofilm formation, c-di-GMP signaling, and environmental stress response. Dr. Yildiz received her B.S. from Hacettepe University, Turkey followed by her Ph.D. from Indiana University. She was a recipient of the Ellison Medical foundation New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease and is a Fellow of the American Academy...
Noah Fierer: Tsujimoto Lecture: Searching for simplicity amidst the complexity of the soil microbiome
Noah Fierer. The Fierer Lab explores the distribution and roles of microscopic organisms in diverse environments and the relevance of microbes to the health and function of ecosystems, plants, and animals (including humans).
Nidhi Rawat: Buchanan Lecture: Fusarium graminearum: Can we really outsmart the sly pathogen?
Nidhi Rawat. Genetic resistance to pathogens is the most crucial strategy to overcome this challenge. Using Fusarium graminearum as a model, we are investigating the broad-spectrum strategies that the plants use to resist the pathogen spread.
Nancy Keller: Taylor-White Lecture: Chemical Intelligence of Fungi
Nancy Keller's research focus lies in genetically dissecting those aspects of Aspergillus spp. that render them potent pathogens and superb natural product machines. We are interested in elucidating the mechanism of fungal sporulation and host/pathogen interactions; processes intimately linked to secondary metabolite (e.g. mycotoxin) production.
Toshiharu Hase: Arnon Lecture: Ferredoxin - protein interactions and energy transduction in Photosynthesis
Dr. Hase is Professor Emeritus of Osaka University and formerly affiliated to the Institute of Protein Research at Osaka University. His research interests include photosynthetic electron transfer, ferredoxin-dependent redox metabolisms and the structure/function of redox enzymes.
Christine Jacobs Wagner: Kustu Lecture: What makes the Lyme disease bacterium tick?
Christine Jacobs Wagner. Our laboratory is part of the Microbial Sciences Institute at the Yale West Campus. Our group studies the temporal and spatial mechanisms involved in bacterial physiology, with emphasis on chromosome dynamics, cell division, cell cycle regulation, cell morphogenesis and RNA biology. Our primary model organisms are Caulobacter crescentus, Escherichia coli and the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia...
Maria Harrison: Tsujimoto Lecture: Reprogramming root cells for AM symbiosis
Maria Harrison. Most vascular flowering plants are able to form symbiotic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. These associations, named ‘arbuscular mycorrhizas’, develop in the roots, where the fungus colonizes the cortex to access carbon supplied by the plant. The fungal contribution to the symbiosis includes the transfer of mineral nutrients, particularly phosphorus, from the soil to the...
Benjamin Wolfe: Plant and Microbial Biology Tsujimoto Endowed Lecture: "Delicious rot: using fermented foods to dissect microbiome diversity"
Benjamin Wolfe. The Wolfe Lab uses tractable microbial communities from food systems to study the ecological and evolutionary forces that shape microbial diversity. They also use food as a tool for improving microbial literacy through teaching and outreach.
Jing-Ke Weng: Buchanan Lecture: Mechanistic Basis of Metabolic Evolution in Plants
Jing-Ke Weng has broad interests in understanding the origin and evolution of plant specialized metabolism at enzyme, pathway, and systems levels, as well as how plants exploit discrete small molecules to interact with their surrounding biotic and abiotic environments. Their work in plant metabolic evolution impacts a fundamental question in biology – how do complex traits evolve in a Darwinian...