NCBS PhD Student Yadugiri bags prize at ICOM 2013

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013
Yadugiri
NCBS doctoral student Yadugiri V.T. won second place for the Best Student Presentation at the International Conference on Mycorrhiza (ICOM7) that just concluded in New Delhi on 11th January 2013.

Yadugiri presented her research on mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi that she has begun as part of her doctoral work with principal investigator Mahesh Sankaran of the Ecology and Evolution Group at NCBS. A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant while endophytic fungi are those found in the shoots of plants. Mycorrhizae help in the uptake of soil nutrients in plants. Endophytic fungi often produce secondary metabolites or toxins which deter herbivores from foraging on the plant. Such associations between fungi and plants play an important role in patterns of herbivory and plant defense. “I plan to look at how things like herbivory, temperature rise and precipitation affect these fungi,” says Yadugiri. She plans to pursue this topic for her doctoral work. “I presented some preliminary work at ICOM7. I talked about how in the presence and absence of herbivory, fungal densities change, probably as a result of changes in plant investment in them,” she says. “It was amazing to see the diversity of work on mycorrhizae. I enjoyed myself a lot - it was a lot of fun talking to people from different places, getting to know their work and also more about their countries and culture.”

The International Mycorrhizal Society conducts an ICOM every three years and this year's ICOM was the seventh edition. The ICOMs hope to serve as an international forum for workers in all scientific and applied areas of work on the mycorrhizal symbiosis. The conference includes oral presentations and posters by participants and symposia workshops and plenaries by experts covering issues related to forestry, agronomy, horticulture and the basic biology of the symbiosis. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), headquartered at New Delhi, organized the 6-day conference. It was conducted under the aegis of the International Mycorrhizal Society and the Indian government's Department of Biotechnology and Ministry of Science and Technology.

Comments

Congratulations for your nice

Congratulations for your nice piece of work

Congratulations!!! Keep it

Congratulations!!! Keep it up...proud of you

Congrats Yadu!!! Great!!!

Congrats Yadu!!! Great!!! Many more to come..awards and treats too...

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