The Department of Nematology's weekly NEMA 250 seminar series is presented this week by:

Simon (Niels) Groen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in Nematology and Evolutionary Systems Biology, Dept. Nematology, University of California, Riverside

Seminar Title: “Evolutionary systems biology of host-parasite interactions"

Brief Biography: BSc and MSc in Biology, Wageningen University, The Netherlands; PhD in Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK; Postdoc at the University of Arizona and University of California, Berkeley; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fellow at New York University.

Seminar Summary: Nematodes form major parasites of important crop plants such as soybean, tomato, and rice. Infection significantly impedes human economic development by causing crop disease. As both hosts and parasites are multicellular, eukaryotic species, with complex genomes that are difficult to study, the host traits under selection because of nematode infection and their underlying genetic basis remain elusive. It is still a mystery exactly how parasites drive host adaptation and immune system variation across host populations. To start answering these fundamental questions, more studies on genetically tractable model systems are needed. Using an evolutionary genomics approach to study interactions between the crop plant rice and their root-knot nematode parasites, we find evidence for selection on host traits and underlying genes through geographically varying levels of nematode parasitism. Understanding the genetic architecture of host traits under selection from parasite infections, and how these key traits evolve, will allow us to ultimately predict genetic and phenotypic adaptation in hosts and parasites and design sustainable intervention strategies.