Fungal spore dispersal from take off to landing
Agnese Seminara (Univ. Genoa, IT)
| When |
Mar 14, 2022
from 11:00 to 12:00 |
|---|---|
| Where | Online seminar |
| Attendees |
CANCELED - Agnese Seminara |
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The fungi may lack legs, fins or wings for locomotion, but they routinely translocate across hundreds of km and even across oceans. Their survival relies on the dispersal of microscopic propagules — the spores. I will first discuss the microscopic mechanism of spore discharge and show how fungi control this process to the slimmest level of precision. I will then zoom out and discuss spore trajectory in the atmosphere. The ultimate reach of a spore is dictated by a combination of stochastic events unknown to the fungus. However, I will show that fungi can still enjoy a (more limited) control over the fate of their spores by correctly tuning the timing of spore release. I will discuss ongoing work that aims at a systematic analysis of the predictability of spore survival in the atmosphere.