Nov., 29th, 2018// The dance between plants and caterpillar herbivores

Dr. Jacqueline Bede, Dept Plant Science, McGill University

Plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses require prioritizing different pathways to appropriate regulate metabolic flux. Some caterpillar species have honed into this “cross-talk” and evolved strategies to manipulate plant signaling pathways to minimize induced plant responses. Bede’s lab studies this close, complex interaction from both the plant and insect perspective. Research in her laboratory also investigates how these plant-insect interactions may be influenced by future climatic conditions, in particular elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide.