CAREER: Chemical Mediation of Interactions Between Parasitic Plants and their Hosts

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CAREER: Chemical Mediation of Interactions between Parasitic Plants and their HostsAbstractThis project involves an integrated research and education program centered on the investigation of interactions between parasitic plants in the genus Cuscuta (dodders) and their hosts. The research portion of the project will explore the role of plant volatiles in host-location and host selection by parasitic plants, the defense responses of host plants to parasitism and explore the broader ecological impacts of parasitism for subsequent interactions between plants and other organisms, including pathogens, herbivores and natural enemies. The education portion of the project integrates the proposed research into educational activities including training undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral researchers and the creation of a hands-on learning module for use in a science education course designed to prepare future elementary educators to teach life-science concepts to children. The broader impacts of this integrated research and teaching program include a better understanding of the ecological interactions between parasitic plants and their hosts and the training of students and future educators who have first-hand experience in the conduct of scientific research.