Mennat El Ghalid: How fungi recognize (and infect) plants
Mennat El Ghalid: Como os fungos reconhecem (e infectam) as plantas
Mennat El Ghalid research aims to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying fungal biology and pathogenicity. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
counting nearly four billion trees,
estimada em quase 4 bilhões de árvores,
by a fungal infection.
por uma infecção fúngica.
pathogens of plants,
de plantas mais destrutivos,
economic importance.
importância econômica.
with fungal infection
à infecção fúngica em cultivos
per year, worldwide?
por ano, em todo o mundo?
to feed half a billion people.
para alimentar meio bilhão de pessoas,
in developing countries,
nos países em desenvolvimento,
for farmers and distributors,
para agricultores e distribuidores,
poison produced by fungi.
o veneno produzido por fungos.
used to prevent and treat
usado para prevenir e tratar
exploiting natural sources of resistance,
de fontes naturais de resistência,
treatment, among others,
de sementes, entre outros,
to develop more efficient strategies
desenvolver estratégias mais eficientes
to identify biological mechanisms
para identificar mecanismos biológicos
by novel antifungal treatments.
por novos tratamentos antifúngicos.
is that they cannot move
to form a sophisticated network,
uma rede sofisticada, o micélio.
the father of plant pathology,
o pai da patologia vegetal,
that fungi are guided by signals
que os fungos são guiados por sinais
it can lodge and subsist,
podem se alojar e sobreviver.
crescerem, alcançarem
e colonizarem uma planta.
of such signals
desses sinais revelaria
that then serves to elaborate strategy
então, para elaborar estratégia
between the fungus and the plant.
entre o fungo e a planta.
method at that moment
de um método naquele momento
this mechanism at the molecular level.
este mecanismo ao nível molecular.
genomic approaches,
genômicas mutacionais,
of directed hyphal growth,
do crescimento dirigido de hifas,
that after 130 years,
que depois de 130 anos,
could finally identify such plant signals
finalmente identificar os sinais da planta
between a pathogenic fungus
entre um fungo patogênico,
the tomato plant.
o receptor fúngico desses sinais
receiving those signals
occurring within the fungus
que acontece dentro do fungo,
toward the plant.
em direção à planta.
of such molecular processes
novel antifungal treatments.
novos tratamentos antifúngicos.
a interação entre o fungo e a planta,
the fungus and the plant
which receives those signals.
que recebe esses sinais.
agriculture crops.
o cultivo agrícola.
is increasing significantly.
vem aumentando significativamente.
economic development,
o desenvolvimento econômico,
e a demanda por biocombustíveis.
of the molecular mechanism
a fungus and its host plant,
e a planta hospedeira, como o tomate,
importante para o desenvolvimento
towards developing more efficient strategy
para combater doenças fúngicas das plantas
que afetam a vida das pessoas,
that affect people's lives,
e o crescimento econômico.
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