GEE Seminar - Professor Simon "Sam" Elliot, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Academic Host: David Murrell
Abstract: Fungi associated with insects can be valuable models for the study of host-parasite interactions and are themselves of importance in natural and agricultural ecosystems. I will briefly present some biological aspects of these fungi, in particular their evolutionary history of switching between insects, other fungi and plants as hosts, plus the “zombie” fungi that manipulate host behaviour. I will go into how insects, especially those that live in groups or are social, defend themselves against parasites. Finally I will show some current perspectives regarding fungal biodiversity in the tropics, the development of a model system to study coinfections and the use of these fungi as providers of ecosystem services and as biocontrol agents. The latter is of particular importance at present as Brazil is leading the way in the adoption of biological alternatives to pesticides in large-scale agriculture.