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X-WR-CALNAME:Department of Plant Pathology
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://plantpath.wsu.edu
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Department of Plant Pathology
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TZID:America/Los_Angeles
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TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
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DTSTART:20230312T100000
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DTSTART:20231105T090000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231002T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231002T170000
DTSTAMP:20260404T230522
CREATED:20230821T163239Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230926T181835Z
UID:2710-1696262400-1696266000@plantpath.wsu.edu
SUMMARY:Roshani Baral
DESCRIPTION:“Disease-Suppressive Soils as a Tool for Disease Management”\nRoshani Baral\, M.S. Student\, Department of Plant Pathology\, Washington State University \nAbstract\nAs soilborne diseases continue to challenge crop production\, suppressive soils offer a way to manage the disease condition even in the presence of a susceptible host and a virulent pathogen. To date\, several microbial species have been identified as contributors to disease suppression. Introducing such strains to problematic soils can offer long-term disease control (Liu et al. 1995) and may promote plant growth (Meng et al. 2012). In this talk\, I will present the role of suppressive soils to manage pathogens such as Streptomyces scabies (causing common scab of potato) (Liu et al. 1995; Meng et al. 2012)\, Fusarium oxysporum (causing Fusarium wilt) (Cha et al. 2016)\, and Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici (causing take-all of wheat) (Raaijmakers and Weller 1998). I will also discuss the attributes of disease-suppressive soils\, mechanisms involved in disease suppression\, and understand the importance of soil microbiomes in disease management (Jayaraman et al. 2021). \nFor more information regarding Roshani’s seminar please see the seminar announcement.
URL:https://plantpath.wsu.edu/event/roshani-baral/
CATEGORIES:Seminar
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231009T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231009T170000
DTSTAMP:20260404T230522
CREATED:20230821T163359Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231002T173651Z
UID:2712-1696867200-1696870800@plantpath.wsu.edu
SUMMARY:Jessica Schallon
DESCRIPTION:“Phytochemical Production and Applications to Plant Pathology”\nJessica Schallon\, M.S. Student\, Department of Plant Pathology\, Washington State University \nAbstract \nPlants have an incredible capacity to manufacture even very complex chemicals. For a long time\, plants have served as organic chemistry factories\, producing compounds that have been found to be helpful as human medicine (Houghton 2001). More recently\, plants have also been harnessed for molecular farming\, producing products of interest to people via genetic modification (Tschofen et al. 2016). In the future\, genetic modification may in turn be used to help plants produce their own medicines and products of interest to the plant itself (Makeshkumar et al. 2021). While the use of genetic modification can be met with public pushback\, many of these techniques have shown great promise in combatting plant diseases (Makeshkumar et al. 2021). Of particularly promising phytochemical products are single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies\, or more colloquially\, “plantibodies.” These fragments are smaller but functionally analogous to the antibodies of animals\, resulting in resistance to a specific pathogen with only minimal modification of the plant genome (Boonrod et al. 2004; Gargouri-Bouzid et al. 2006; Gil et al. 2011; Nickel et al. 2008; Tavladoraki et al. 1993). This unique transgenic approach could be particularly impactful in managing emerging plant diseases and recalcitrant diseases to which cisgenic approaches and cultural practices fail to provide time- and cost-effective control measures. \nFor more information regarding Jessica’s seminar\, please see the seminar announcement.
URL:https://plantpath.wsu.edu/event/jessica-schallon/
CATEGORIES:Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231016T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231016T170000
DTSTAMP:20260404T230522
CREATED:20230821T163438Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231011T155457Z
UID:2714-1697472000-1697475600@plantpath.wsu.edu
SUMMARY:Scott Anderson\, PhD Exit Seminar
DESCRIPTION:“Novel Molecular Approaches to Identify and Control Plant Parasitic Nematodes” \nScott Anderson\, PhD Student\, Exit Seminar\, Department of Plant Pathology\, Washington State University \nAbstract\nPlant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) are responsible for 10-15% crop loss worldwide amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars of crop loss annually11; and in the U.S. alone\, the annual crop loss by PPNs is estimated as $13 billion4. Among the many types of PPNs\, the root-knot nematodes (RKN)\, genus Meloidogyne\, cause the largest amount of crop loss world-wide. These nematodes are obligate biotrophs\, meaning that they rely solely on plants for their food\, restricting the nutrients available to their hosts\, and decreasing crop yield and production5\,9.\nTraditionally\, PPNs have been dealt with by applying nematicides\, but over the last few decades these chemicals have been phased out or banned due to their effects on humans and the environment4. To avoid overreliance on expensive and dangerous nematicides\, and to find a long-term robust solution to RKNs\, a new form of control is badly needed. Another problem in controlling RKNs is knowing which species are present in a field via objective and reliable methods to prescribe appropriate management strategies in a timely fashion3. Currently\, nematology heavily relies on microscopy to identify and quantify nematodes based on morphology; this is a low throughput\, labor intensive\, and technical skill which takes years to master. Thus\, plant pathologists have been developing molecular techniques for faster\, easier nematode identification2\,13.\nIn this research\, we endeavored to 1) develop a time saving and reliable molecular assay for identifying three RKN species: M. chitwoodi\, M. fallax\, and M. minor; 2) investigate the potential for using ferroptosis\, an evolutionarily conserved form of programmed cell death triggered by omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) as an alternate form of RKN control; and 3) identify key fatty acid synthesis genes in order to evaluate their impact in the RKN lifecycle when silenced via host-induced gene silencing (HIGS).\nFirst\, a molecular beacon qPCR assay for M. chitwoodi\, M. fallax\, and M. minor was developed that could detect the three species in a single multiplexed reaction. This assay was shown to reliably distinguish between these three RKN species. It was also sensitive enough to determine the species of RKN from a single J2 and had no cross reaction with other economically destructive RKN species (M. incognita\, M. javanica\, M. arenaria\, or M. hapla)1. In addition to nematode identification\, developing nematode control tools was a major component of my research. To test the applicability of ferroptosis as a means of controlling RKNs\, we created transgenic tomato plants that produced gamma-linolenic (GLA) and dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA) in their roots and challenged them with M. incognita. Because no reproducible reduction in RKN hatching was observed\, it was concluded that roots producing GLA/DGLA had no measurable effects on M. incognita reproduction. Finally\, two putative acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) orthologs were characterized in silico in M. incognita\, MiACC1 and MiACC2. In Caenorhabditis elegans\, these enzymes are necessary early on in fatty acid synthesis\, and their absence causes disruptions in lipid biosynthesis and molting6\,12\,15. Additionally\, previous research showed that knocking-down these genes in a closely related cyst nematode\, Heterodera schachtii\, led to a delayed molting phenotype8. We attempted to knock these genes down via HIGS by creating three independent Arabidopsis thaliana lines that produced dsRNA targeting both MiACCs. RKNs feeding on these transgenic roots showed a delayed molting phenotype. These results are similar to the observations in previous studies that used pesticides or exogenously supplied dsRNA to reduce ACC activity in PPNs and C. elegans7\,8\,10\,14. Overall\, my research has produced a high throughput\, reliable\, and technically simple assay for identifying different RKN species\, furthered our understanding of the fatty acid pathways in RKNs\, and probed the effectiveness of feeding RKNs omega-6 PUFAs as an alternative control method to pesticides. \nFor more information regarding Scott’s seminar\, please see the seminar announcement.
URL:https://plantpath.wsu.edu/event/scott-anderson/
CATEGORIES:Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231023T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231023T170000
DTSTAMP:20260404T230522
CREATED:20230821T163618Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231016T193949Z
UID:2716-1698076800-1698080400@plantpath.wsu.edu
SUMMARY:Kristen Bullough
DESCRIPTION:“Mycoremediation: The Potential Effect of Fungi on Remediating Heavy Metal Pollution” \nKristen Bullough\, PhD Candidate\, Department of Plant Pathology\, Washington State University \nAbstract \nMycoremediation can be used as a bioremediation tool to remove heavy metals and other pollutants from contaminated sites\, including soil and wastewater. Remediating heavy-metal pollution specifically is becoming critical to maintaining important ecosystems and human health around the world (Anyanwu et al. 2018; CDC 2016; Zhao et al. 2022). Fungi has many potential benefits as remediation tools\, such as low-cost\, biodegradation ability\, and high accumulation of heavy metal (Akpasi et. al. 2023; Kulshreshtha et al. 2014; Kumar et al. 2021); but there are many factors\, such as temperature and pH\, that contribute to the success of mycoremediation. There are many mechanisms for mycoremediation\, including biotransformation\, biodegradation\, and sequestration. In this talk\, two case studies will be discussed. The first study was on the tolerance of Pleurotus spp. in the presence of copper\, cobalt\, and nickel (Mohamadhasani and Rahimi 2022). In the second study\, the authors utilized fungal species isolated from sites contaminated with heavy metals (cadmium\, lead\, chromium\, and nickel) to determine their tolerance and capabilities of heavy metal uptake. They also looked at the ability of the tolerant species when exposed to a single heavy metal versus a combination of heavy metals (Joshi et al. 2011). More studies are needed to verify the potential uses of mycoremediation for remediating polluted sites. \n  \nFor more information about Kristen’s seminar please see the seminar announcement.
URL:https://plantpath.wsu.edu/event/kristen-bullough/
CATEGORIES:Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231030T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231030T170000
DTSTAMP:20260404T230522
CREATED:20230821T163728Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231023T193747Z
UID:2718-1698681600-1698685200@plantpath.wsu.edu
SUMMARY:Megan Nickerson
DESCRIPTION:“Genome Evolution of Plant Pathogenic and Symbiotic Fungi” \nMegan Nickerson\, PhD Candidate\, Department of Plant Pathology\, Washington State University \nAbstract\nKingdom Fungi represents a highly diverse lineage of Eukaryota\, with an estimated 2 – 11 million fungal species (Blackwell 2011; Hawksworth and Lücking 2017). Land plant associations have been central to the diversification of fungi (Lutzoni et al. 2018)\, and the majority of fungal species associate with plants or green algae either as symbionts or saprotrophs (Aguileta et al. 2009; Blackwell 2011; Phukhamsakda et al. 2022). With the exception of a few specialized lineages\, parasitic\, mutualistic\, and saprophytic fungal species are interspersed across the fungal tree of life\, supporting the hypothesis that transitions between trophic modes have occurred repeatedly over evolutionary time (Aguileta et al. 2009; Rodriguez et al. 2009). Increased analysis of fungal genomes has led to the identification of various genes (effector genes\, CAZyme genes\, etc.) contributing to observed ecological roles (Gluck-Thaler and Slot 2018; Rokas et al. 2020). Additionally\, fungal genomes are unique in the arrangement genes involved in the biosynthesis and catabolism of secondary metabolites (SMs). “Metabolic gene clusters” (MGCs) are physically clustered genes typically encoding enzymes or SMs\, as well as transporters and transcription factors (Rokas et al. 2020). Fungal MGCs have been linked to the production of plant specific toxins\, catabolism of plant defense compounds\, and SM production of various functions (Slot et al. 2017). My presentation will address the following questions: what methods are used to detect MGCs in fungal genomes\, what is the evolutionary history and function of fungal MGCs\, what is the adaptative advantage of gene clustering for fungi\, and how does the presence of MGCs impact the ecological niche they occupy? \nFor more information regarding Megan’s seminar\, please see the seminar announcement.
URL:https://plantpath.wsu.edu/event/megan-nickerson/
CATEGORIES:Seminar
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