Place: 4274 Chamberlin Hall (Refreshments will be served)
Speaker: Jean-Michel Ané, UW Department of Agronomy
Abstract: Living organisms, such as plants, animals and humans in particular, interact constantly with microbes present in their environment to form symbioses. These symbioses are very dynamic and can range all along a continuum between mutually beneficial interactions to parasitic ones. Sometimes, these associations are necessary for the survival of one or both partners, but they can also be facultative. These associations can be lost or acquired over time depending on environmental constraints. We will discuss how plants and microbes communicate (sweet talks) to initiate and maintain symbiotic associations, how these mechanisms evolved or have been lost sometimes, but also how nutrients exchanges between partners are regulated with interesting similarities to economic markets (trade deals).