The seminar will take place at 10:30 AM in the Plant Biology Bldg 168.

For more info on Dr. Bogdanove please visit: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~ajbog/

Jointly sponsored by the DOE-Plant Research Laboratory and the Department of Plant Biology

Monday, April 11, 2011 @ 4:10 pm

Room 101 Biochemistry

Dr. [...]]]> The department of Plant Biology is hosting a great seminar in molecular host-pathogen interactions on April 11th:

Jointly sponsored by the DOE-Plant Research Laboratory and the Department of Plant Biology

Monday, April 11, 2011 @ 4:10 pm

Room 101 Biochemistry

Dr. Ulla Bonas

Martin-Luther-University

Wittenberg, Germany

“How bacterial pathogens manipulate their host plants”

The Gram-negative bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria (Xcv), the causal agent of bacterial spot disease in pepper and tomato, is one of the model organisms in which to study bacterial pathogenicity.  Pathogenicity of Xcv depends on a type III secretion (TTS) system that translocates more than 20 effector proteins directly into the plant cell. These type III effectors are one of the major virulence weapons that pathogens use to antagonize plant defense responses and cause disease.

Dr. Bonas’s group has done an elegant job of characterizing the AvrBs3 family of type III effectors from Xanthomonas, which mimic eukaryotic transcription factors and activate host gene expression after being delivered into plant cells.  Know as TAL (transcription activator–like) effectors, they bind to host DNA via a central domain of tandem repeats.  Significantly, Dr. Bonas’s group has discovered the code for DNA binding specificity of TAL-type III effectors.  Two hypervariable amino acid residues in each tandem repeat recognize one base pair in the target DNA.  This work describes the functionality of a distinct type of DNA-binding domain and has significant implications in the design of DNA-binding domains for biotechnology.

Xiufang Xin

References:

1.  Finlay BB, Bonas U (2011).  Host-microbe interactions: ever increasing complexity. Curr Opin Microbiol 14(1):1-2.

2.  Boch J, Scholze H, Schornack S, Landgraf A, Hahn S, Kay S, Lahaye T, Nickstadt A, Bonas U(2009).  Breaking the code of DNA binding specificity of TAL-type III effectors. Science 326:1509-1512.

3.  Kay S, Hahn S, Marois E, Hause G, Bonas U (2007).  A bacterial effector acts as a plant transcription factor and induces a cell size regulator.  Science 318: 648-651.

Dr. Nik Grünwald research is focused  in the epidemiology, genetics and evolution of exotic and reemerging Phytophthora species with a current emphasis on the sudden oak death pathogen P. ramorum.  He will be presenting research titled “Evolutionary history of the sudden oak death pathogen Phytophthora ramorum: Novel approaches and insights” as part of [...]]]>

First speaker - Spring 11'

Dr. Nik Grünwald research is focused  in the epidemiology, genetics and evolution of exotic and reemerging Phytophthora species with a current emphasis on the sudden oak death pathogen P. ramorum.  He will be presenting research titled “Evolutionary history of the sudden oak death pathogen Phytophthora ramorum: Novel approaches and insights” as part of the Department of Plant Pathology’s Spring seminar series.

The seminar will take place at 1:30 PM in PLB 247.

For more info on Dr. Grunwald please visit:

Grünwald lab web page

“Blumeriella jaapii (Cherry Leaf Spot) Research Update and the Twisted Paths of Extension Based Research”

Dr. Tyre Proffer

Department of Biological Sciences,

Kent State University-Salem and

MSU Department of Plant Pathology

On Monday, March 14th after PLP seminar SPORE will be co-opting Pi Day and offering free pie and coffee in the FST conference room.

If you can help by making a pie please contact me at mcnall46@msu.edu. The more homemade pies the better. If you can’t make a pie don’t worry, SPORE [...]]]>
PLP graduate students,

On Monday, March 14th after PLP seminar SPORE will be co-opting Pi Day and offering free pie and coffee in the FST conference room.

If you can help by making a pie please contact me at mcnall46@msu.edu. The more homemade pies the better. If you can’t make a pie don’t worry, SPORE will be purchasing pies as necessary.

Please spread the word and join us in the FST atrium after seminar on March 14th.

“Management of Soybean White Mold by Reducing Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum Population Using Beneficial Microorganisms”

Wenting Zeng

9:00 AM, May 5, 2010

162 Food Safety & Toxicology

White mold of soybean (Glycine max), caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is a destructive [...]]]>

“Management of Soybean White Mold by Reducing Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum Population Using Beneficial Microorganisms”

Wenting Zeng

9:00 AM, May 5, 2010

162 Food Safety & Toxicology

White mold of soybean (Glycine max), caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is a destructive disease widely spread in the North Central region of the US. Effectiveness of biocontrol agents (BCAs) to control the disease was evaluated in the laboratory, growth chamber and field at two locations in Michigan. In controlled environment, increased rates of BCAs decreased the sclerotial survival and the carpogenic germination of S. sclerotiorum. The sclerotial reduction was up to 90% by Coniothyrium minitans CON/M/91-08. Under field conditions, C. minitans CON/M/91-08 (Contans) survived in soil, maintained a persistent population level throughout the season, and had the best efficacy on disease suppression among the BCAs tested. A single application of C. minitans was less effective than two applications.

C. minitans W09 was isolated in Michigan. Morphological characteristics, effects of environmental factors on mycelial growth, conidial production, and the colonization of sclerotia of S. sclerotiorum were compared in vitro and in the growth chamber between C. minitans W09 and CON/M/91-08. The optimal conditions for both isolates were 20 °C, pH 4.5, 0 light h/d for mycelial growth, and 20 °C, pH 4.5, 12 light h/d for conidial production/plate. C. minitans W09 outperformed CON/M/91-08 in mycelial growth and conidial production/plate. In addition, several compounds and microorganisms were evaluated for potential use to control S. sclerotiorum, which will be discussed.

Leah Granke - Seminar

“Effects of Environmental Conditions on Phytophthora capsici Dispersal and Disease Development”

Leah L. Granke

1:30 PM, April 26, 2010

247 Plant Biology Lab (PBL)