Mennat El Ghalid: How fungi recognize (and infect) plants
Mennat El Ghalid: Wie Schimmel Pflanzen erkennt und befällt
Mennat El Ghalid research aims to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying fungal biology and pathogenicity. Full bio
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[Gedicht von Robert Frost, 1936]
Amerikanische Kastanien
counting nearly four billion trees,
by a fungal infection.
pathogens of plants,
Krankheitserreger der Pflanzen
wichtige Kulturpflanzen.
economic importance.
dass heute weltweit jährlich
with fungal infection
durch Schimmelbefall entstehen?
per year, worldwide?
to feed half a billion people.
eine halbe Milliarde Menschen zu ernähren.
in developing countries,
in Entwicklungsländern,
für Bauern und Vertreiber,
for farmers and distributors,
Freisetzung von Pilzgiften.
poison produced by fungi.
used to prevent and treat
furchtbaren Krankheiten
exploiting natural sources of resistance,
treatment, among others,
effizientere Strategien.
to develop more efficient strategies
Mechanismen erforscht werden,
to identify biological mechanisms
Pilzbekämpfung wirken können.
by novel antifungal treatments.
dass sie sich nicht bewegen können,
is that they cannot move
to form a sophisticated network,
und ein komplexes Geflecht bilden,
the father of plant pathology,
that fungi are guided by signals
der Wirtspflanze geleitet werden,
und von der sie sich ernähren.
it can lodge and subsist,
ein Leuchtturm, durch welchen der Pilz
niederlässt und sie befällt.
solcher Signale
of such signals
that then serves to elaborate strategy
Unterbrechung des Zusammenspiels
between the fungus and the plant.
entwickelt werden können.
die passenden Methoden,
method at that moment
this mechanism at the molecular level.
molekularer Ebene zu erforschen.
mutationsgenetischer Methoden
genomic approaches,
des gerichteten Hyphenwachstums,
of directed hyphal growth,
130 Jahre später,
that after 130 years,
endlich diese Pflanzensignale
could finally identify such plant signals
between a pathogenic fungus
Schimmelpilz Fusarium Oxysporum
the tomato plant.
receiving those signals
die in ihm stattfindet
occurring within the fungus
zur Pflanze hin führt.
toward the plant.
of such molecular processes
entwickelt werden können.
novel antifungal treatments.
Pflanze unterbinden,
the fungus and the plant
Pflanzensignals
der diese Signale empfängt.
which receives those signals.
agriculture crops.
is increasing significantly.
wirtschaftlicher Entwicklung,
economic development,
der Nachfrage nach Biokraftstoff.
molekularen Mechanismen
of the molecular mechanism
Schimmelpilz und Wirt,
a fungus and its host plant,
towards developing more efficient strategy
Schimmelschutzes für Pflanzen.
that affect people's lives,
und wirtschaftliches Wachstum auswirken.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mennat El Ghalid - MycologistMennat El Ghalid research aims to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying fungal biology and pathogenicity.
Why you should listen
Mycologist Mennat El Ghalid received an Initial Training Networks - Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship to pursue her PhD project in the Molecular Genetics of Fungal Pathogenicity Unit and the International Campus of Excellence in Agrifood CeiA3 at the Universidad de Cordoba (Spain). During her PhD, her former team and herself identified the compounds secreted from the plant roots attracting Fusarium oxysporum, a soilborne plant pathogenic fungus and characterized the underlying mechanisms of attraction. Such compounds were tracked since the 19th century. The discovery was published in the Nature Journal.
El Ghalid became a TED Fellow in 2017 and have been selected as one of the 100 women honorees for OkayAfrica's 2018 #OKAY100Women list for her dedicated work and for being a promising talent within the field of STEM. She is currently working at Institut Pasteur (France) in the Biology and Pathogenicity Unit to study Candida albicans, an opportunistic pathogenic fungus and the main cause of fungal infections in immunocompromised humans.
Mennat El Ghalid | Speaker | TED.com