DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Genetic Architecture of Resistance in a Coevolving Plant-Fungus Pathosystem

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Coevolution between organisms and their enemies is a widespread phenomenon that may contribute to the generation of biological diversity. The genetic mechanism believed to underlie relationships between plants and their enemies, termed the gene-for-gene concept, is thought to involve pairwise interactions of plant genes and herbivore genes. The genetics of a natural plant-fungus (host-parasite) system will be examined to determine whether the evolution of resistance in this system is accurately described by the gene-for-gene model of plant-pathogen coevolution. Prior research on the pathology of this system will serve as a starting point for characterizing the genetic basis of resistance. Additional insight will be gained because the system includes multiple host species, providing a more realistic multispecies context for host-pathogen coevolution.Though the genetics of coevolution has been studied in many agricultural plant systems, few such interactions have been studied in natural systems. Understanding the mechanisms and impacts of natural plant-pathogen coevolution should help in the development of strategies for long term maintenance of resistance, which will become ever more important as cultivation becomes increasingly globalized, and as human activity results in increased introduction of natural pathogens to endangered or cultivated plant populations.