OOS 30 - The Extended Phenotype of Microbial Communities: When and How Do Microbes Affect Plants, Animals, and Their Interactions?

Wednesday, August 9, 2017: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
Portland Blrm 258, Oregon Convention Center
Organizer:
Rachel Vannette, University of California, Davis
Co-organizer:
Stephanie Porter, Washington State University, Vancouver
Moderator:
Rachel Vannette, University of California, Davis
Microbial communities are ubiquitous and associate with every macroorganism examined to date. Recent technological advances have revealed the diversity of microbial communities, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses that associate with macroorganism hosts, and a growing body of work explores the impacts symbiotic, non-pathogenic, microbes can have on host phenotype, interactions, and fitness. In some cases, microbial communities substantially influence phenotypes previously ascribed to macroorganisms. However, symbiotic microbial effects on host phenotype and fitness vary substantially in the strength and direction. The objective of this symposium is to examine the contexts (e.g. ecological, genomic, evolutionary, environmental) that may determine the effects of symbiotic microbial communities on their hosts. In this session, we will bring together researchers working on diverse interactions using complementary techniques including experimental, genomic, metagenomic, and evolutionary to uncover when and which microbial partners influence their hosts’ phenotype.
2:30 PM
 Microbial community structure and function in floral nectar: Insights from metagenomics
Megan M. Morris, San Diego State University; Elizabeth A. Dinsdale, San Diego State University; Rachel L. Vannette, University of California, Davis
3:10 PM
3:20 PM
 Moving beyond bipartite interactions in plant-diazotroph symbioses
Maren L. Friesen, Michigan State University
3:40 PM
 Phyllosphere microbiota and host plant defense
Keith Clay, Indiana University; Wesley T. Beaulieu, Indiana University; Lekeah Durden, Indiana University; Daniel G. Panaccione, West Virginia University; Dong Wang, Indiana University
4:00 PM
 The role of rhizobia as mediators of plant defense against herbivores
Daniel J. Ballhorn, Portland State University; Stefanie Kautz, Portland State University
4:40 PM
 The influence of epiphytic pathogens on aphid feeding choice
Tory A. Hendry, Cornell University; Kevin R. Besler, Cornell University; Rachel L. Fay, SUNY Potsdam; Melanie R. Smee, Cornell University