Date: 13th November 2024
Time: 13:00
Title: Ectomycorrhizal fungal-plant communication and consequences for plant stress resistance
Location: Lecture room B6, Forest Sciences Building, Latokartanonkaari 7-9
Host: Melis Kucukoglu Topcu
Abstract: The importance of underground microbial communities for plant health and performance has increasingly been recognized in recent years. Mycorrhizal fungi play an outstanding role in this context. In my talk, I will discuss mycorrhizal fungal-plant interactions that result in local and systemic activation of defense responses.
Andrea Polle is Professor for Botany and Tree Physiology at the University of Göttingen (Germany). The main interest of her group is how tree species cope with abiotic and biotic stresses. It is now generally accepted that a healthy microbiome is key to plant performance under stress. However, the signals and dialogue exchanged between the host and its associated microbial communities are far from being understood. Her group studies mycorrhizal fungal-plant communication mediated by direct contact or indirectly via volatiles. Different fungi produce a rich blend of volatile organic substances. These compounds can be perceived by plants and evoke stress priming. Furthermore, mycorrhizal colonization has impact on volatile emissions by the host plants and with consequences for above-ground plant performance. Direct contact results in microbe-associated molecular patterns stimulating induced immunity, even in non-host plants.
The work of the Polle group involves omic techniques in combination with ecophysiological methods and molecular biology.