Understanding the forces regulating soil microbial activity is critical for mitigating climate risks and stabilizing global food supply. For agricultural sustainability, it is particularly important to understand the dynamics of soil nitrogen-fixing bacteria like Azotobacter vinelandii, a well-studied and globally distributed species whose activity promotes plant growth and soil fertility. I will discuss my lab’s work to isolate and investigate a novel soil virus that infects A. vinelandii: how host physiology affects viral success, how the virus manipulates host metabolism during infection, and how this novel virus relates to known viruses from elsewhere in the world.
Price includes dinner.
This lecture is part of the Origins Science Scholars Series.