From Parasitism to Mutualism: Understanding the Environmental Control of Plant Symbiosis.

演題

From Parasitism to Mutualism: Understanding the Environmental Control of Plant Symbiosis.

講演者

Dr. Clarissa Frederica (University of California Santa Barbara (USA), Postdoctoral Fellow)

使用言語

English

日時

2026年1月29日(木曜日) 15：00～15：45

場所

Online

内容

Plant symbiosis – ranging from mutualistic associations with mycorrhizal fungi to the parasitic theft of nutrients from neighboring host plants – represents a diverse set of strategies evolved by plants to overcome resource limitations. My research clarifies the role and mechanism(s) by which the environment mediates plant-symbiotic outcomes and resource fluxes. I use both mutualistic and parasitic symbioses under varying degrees of system complexity (from single host-single symbiont to network dynamics) to explore these shared yet divergent strategies. 

In this talk, I will describe my work on the root parasite Phtheirospermum japonicum; using physiological and anatomical approaches, I identified a fundamental tradeoff between the parasitic lifestyle and stress resilience (Frederica et al., 2025). I will also touch upon my current work, which examines how environmental heterogeneity in common ectomycorrhizal networks may lead to different nutrient allocation patterns, and subsequent ecological outcomes in connected tree saplings.

問合せ先

Plant Metabolic Regulation
Taku Demura (demura@bs.naist.jp)