Dr. Steve Klosterman

“Retrospective and Prospective Look at Discoveries from Verticillium Comparative Genomics”
Dr. Steve Klosterman, Research Molecular Biologist United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Salinas, California

Fungal pathogens in the genus Verticillium cause Verticillium wilt of high value crops, ornamentals, and trees worldwide. Today we recognize 10 species of Verticillium; the most notorious among these species is V. dahliae. Early comparative genomics focused on the comparisons of two species, V. dahliae and V. alfalfae, giving rise to valuable insights into their genome structures, predicted secretomes, and horizontal gene transfer. Next generation sequencing technologies and the increased availability of high‐quality genome assemblies have rapidly yielded discoveries of avirulence genes, the genetic basis of the defoliating and nondefoliating phenotypes of V. dahliae and paved the way for additional comparative studies. In this talk, I will provide insights on the discoveries of early and two recent Verticillium comparative genomics projects and provide insights on Verticillium comparative genomics of the future.

For more information about Dr. Klosterman’s seminar please see the seminar announcement.