The Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology's weekly Plant Pathology 250 seminar series is presented this week by Posy Busby from Oregon State University 

Seminar Title: "Differentiating host genetic from environmental drivers of plant microbiome composition and function" 

Seminar Description: My seminar will address the processes controlling plant microbiome composition and function. I will discuss ongoing research in my lab, primarily in black cottonwood, showing that: 1) commonly occurring leaf endophytes modify plant disease severity, and in some cases their effects can be predicted by endophyte phylogeny, 2) plant genotypic variation impacts microbiome composition, but these effects are modest compared to broad biogeographic patterns and fine-scale patterns, and 3) plant genotypic variation modulates the impact of endophyte immigration history on both microbiome composition and function. These results contribute to our growing understanding of the plant microbiome, and inform efforts to manage the microbiome for enhanced disease resistance in agriculture. 

Seminar Host: Dr. Sydney Glassman; sydney.glassman@ucr.edu