The Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology's weekly Plant Pathology 250 seminar series is presented this week by Dr. Joanne Emerson, Assistant Professor, UC Davis

Seminar Title: "Exploring soil viromes in natural and managed ecosystems"

Abstract: Viruses have been recognized as abundant but virtually unknown members of the soil microbiome. Here we will explore early results in the burgeoning field of soil viral community ecology as we begin to understand viral diversity, biogeography, and impacts on microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Using shotgun viral metagenomic (viromic) approaches to recover and sequence the viral size fraction, tens of thousands of ‘species-level’ viral populations have been recovered from a wide range of soils, consistently indicating substantial viral diversity across terrestrial ecosystems. Initial insights into soil viral ecology suggest that viruses likely play a substantial role in bacterial mortality, biogeochemical cycling, and food web dynamics in both natural and managed terrestrial ecosystems.

Faculty Host: Caroline Roper; caroline.roper@ucr.edu