Lectures are free and open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance.
The symbiotic association of plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi originated over 450 million years ago and is thought to have enabled plants to colonize land. Over 70% of extant vascular flowering plant species have retained the capacity to host AM fungi in their root cells and benefit from mineral nutrients delivered via their fungal partners. In this lecture, Harrison will discuss the biology of the symbiosis, including the cellular modifications that enable root cells to accommodate AM fungi, and the mechanisms of carbon and phosphorus exchange between symbionts.
Maria J. Harrison is the William H. Crocker Distinguished Scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University. She received a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Applied Molecular Biology from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UK). She completed postdoctoral training with Dr. Richard Dixon in the Plant Biology Division of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and subsequently held an independent scientist position there before joining the Boyce Thompson Institute in 2003. In 2015, she received the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Science Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award and the American Society of Plant Biologists Dennis R. Hoagland Award. She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Her research program focuses on the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis with the goals of understanding the molecular basis of its development and the mechanisms underlying nutrient transport and regulation of the symbiosis. This research lays the foundation for the development of crops optimized to acquire mineral nutrients via their fungal partners.
No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8:00 PM.
