[Seminarcontacts] REMINDER: CMDB/GGB/MCBL Seminar: Dr. Simon Niels Groen Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021

[Mariella J Valdivia]

~Reminder~

CMDB/GGB/MCBL Seminar Program

Fall 2021



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Speaker:

Dr. Simon C. "Niels" Groen, Assistant Professor, Department of Nematology



|University of California, Riverside|



"Plant toxins and the evolution of host-parasite interactions"



Wednesday, November 3rd , 2021

 Time:  12:00 – 12:50 p.m.



Presented via Zoom

https://ucr.zoom.us/j/94383581111?pwd=MDdEMzBLQzNHM2xOMmdFaHNIR0F5Zz09

Meeting ID: 943 8358 1111

Passcode: 130476



Abstract:

Plants are attacked by incredibly diverse groups of animals such as plant-feeding insects and nematodes. In response, different plant species have evolved the capacity to produce a wide variety of toxic chemicals with which they defend themselves. The interactions set in motion evolutionary arms races where plants come up with ever-changing cocktails of toxins and animals with updated offensive strategies to circumvent plant defenses. While much of what we know about these arms races is based on studies of aboveground plant parts and plant-feeding insects, there is a subterranean treasure trove to be uncovered if we roll up our sleeves and dig into the dirt. In the first half of my talk, I will focus on how natural variation in plant toxin production may be shaped by patterns of belowground herbivory by plant-parasitic nematodes. In the second half I will shift gears and show an example of how plant toxins may shape gene evolution throughout a food web of animals and their natural enemies.





Biography:
Simon C. “Niels” Groen, Assistant Professor of Evolutionary Systems Biology in the Department of Nematology, earned his Ph.D. in plant sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK. He then studied the evolution of resistance to milkweed toxins in the monarch butterfly as a post-doc at the University of Arizona and UC Berkeley, before investigating natural selection on gene expression in rice at New York University as a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fellow. Niels’ group at UC Riverside studies the evolution of interactions between parasitic nematodes and their hosts including plants (mustards, rice, nightshades, and their wild relatives) and plant-feeding insects. Their research aims to unravel this complex evolutionary tug-of-war using a combination of laboratory and field experiments. Focusing on the central role that plant chemicals play, his group uses omics technologies and analytical approaches from evolutionary and systems biology to zoom in at the molecular level.



Host: Dr. Adler Dillman; adler.dillman at ucr.edu



Best Regards,
 Maggie
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Margarita Verduzco Flores
Contracts and Grants Analyst
BMPN Administration
1481A Boyce Hall
Cell Phone: (559) 708-6101
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Virtually Stop by my Zoom Office: https://ucr.zoom.us/j/3428969862


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Monday, Tuesday, Friday: Working Remotely

Wednesday, Thursday: On Campus

Hours: 8:00am-5:00pm, Lunch: 12:00-1:00pm

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