This the registration form for the mini-symposium "Host-parasite interactions" organised around the PhD defense of Armando Cruz Laufer at Hasselt University. The registration for the symposium is obligatory. Participation is free.
The current programme looks as follows:
Date: 01/09/2023
Location: UHasselt, Campus Diepenbeek, auditorium H2 (or online)
13:00-15:00 Mini-symposium
Dr Mariana P. Braga (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala) - Evolution of host-parasite interactions - from ancestral states to ancestral networks
Much of the theory on the evolution of species interactions derives from the study of herbivorous insects, due to their intimate association with host plants. The field has been constantly moving towards models that are able to accommodate more of the observed biological complexity. In this talk, I will describe an approach we developed to learn more about the coevolution between Pieridae butterflies and their angiosperm hosts. We reconstructed ancestral ecological networks using stochastic mappings that were generated by a phylogenetic model of host-repertoire evolution. We then measured if, when, and how two ecologically important structural features of the ancestral networks (modularity and nestedness) evolved over time. These features have been previously associated with diversification processes, hence our interest in their origins. Our results demonstrate the power of combining network analysis with Bayesian inference of host-repertoire evolution to understand changes in complex species interactions over time. The approach can be easily applied to other biological systems, from parasitisms to mutualisms.
Dr Vincent Merckx (University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Naturalis Biodiversity Center , Leiden, The Netherlands) - Mixotrophy:
a hidden mode of life in plants?
For plants, light equals life; plants produce energy-rich compounds using sunlight. Yet, some plants are mixotrophic: they can combine autotrophy and heterotrophy when light or seed reserves are insufficient for growth. We currently assume that mixotrophy is relatively rare among land plants, but based on recent isotopic evidence a new form of mixotrophy has been discovered in which plants obtain carbon from root-associated mycorrhizal fungi. This observation advances the hypothesis that this mode of life is much more common than previously assumed. In this talk, I will discuss my ongoing research on this phenomenon and the potential implications for our understanding of mycorrhizal interactions.
Dr Antoine Pariselle (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Montpellier, France + Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco) - Overseas peregrinations of a
“petit blanc” or why I am so glad to be here today
In this talk, I present the results of almost four decades spent overseas on behalf of the IRD (formerly ORSTOM). I will try to summarize the scientific, human and capacity-building implications of working in Africa, South America, Maghreb, and Southeast Asia.
16:00-18:00 PhD defense of Armando Cruz Laufer "A flatworm’s choice: developing a model system to study the ecology and
evolution of host preference using cichlid fishes and their monogenean
parasites";
followed by a small reception
