Ecology Colloquium Series - Biochemical and biophysical factors governing a complex host-parasite relationship: Pathogen growth and development as observed in the entomopathogenic fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
February 22, 2017 @ 12:20 pm
to 01:15 pm
Colbie Reed, Penn State
104 Forest Resources Building
Event Website
Fungal pathogens are an emerging threat to global health as an ongoing result of anthropogenic environmental change. Resistance to treatment for fungal infections appears untenable in the absence of additional research. Host-parasite relationships are notoriously complex, particularly those in which fungal pathogens have evolved to infect animal hosts. To better understand these types of interactions across spatial and temporal scales, the biophysical and biochemical qualities of the host substrate are to be profiled and manipulated in the interest of characterizing the physiological dependencies inherent to the entomopathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. In addition to furthering our understanding of host-parasite interactions, this work attempts to answer the current deficit necessary for the development of scientific screening, faster and more accurate clinical diagnostics, as well as advancing techniques of organism-sourced drug development.
Contact
Dr. David Eissenstat
dme9@psu.edu