[Plsfaculty] Reminder: Brooke Sykes, Dissertation Defense, Monday, 4 August, 10 AM Marley 230

[Romens, David - (dromens)]

From: Mark A Beilstein <mbeilstein at arizona.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2025 9:08 AM
To: plsgs at list.cals.arizona.edu; plsfaculty at list.cals.arizona.edu; Romens, David - (dromens) <dromens at arizona.edu>
Subject: [CATMAIL]Brooke Sykes, Dissertation Defense, Monday, 4 August, 10 AM Marley 230


Please join us on Monday, August 4th at 10:00 AM in Marley 230 when Brooke Sykes will defend her PhD Dissertation titled "Temporal, spatial, and phylogenetic factors that structure foliar fungal endophyte communities across scales."



You may also attend virtually at: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/6254403122?omn=85445796521<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://arizona.zoom.us/j/6254403122?omn%3D85445796521&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw053ny5JDb1KsOE5Gy_jQCU>

Password: Fungi



Abstract: Fungal symbioses are an ancient and essential component of plant life in the terrestrial landscape. Foliar fungal endophytes, which occur within photosynthetic structures of all plants, play key functional roles in enhancing plant health and resilience. In studies that link genetic variation, phylogenetic structure, and aspects of environment, I seek to define factors that shape the communities of these hyperdiverse and understudied symbionts. First, I test hypotheses about community assembly at a small spatial scale, considering the interplay of hosts' genetic variation and microenvironmental factors. My collaborators and I show that environmental factors, especially relevant to stress, are important in defining the endophyte communities in North America's most endangered conifer. I next consider the degree to which coevolution has shaped communities of endophytic fungi, with a focus on gymnosperms. My collaborators and I show that endophytes of gymnosperms vary regionally and do not exhibit strong evidence of phylosymbiosis at a deep phylogenetic level. However, endophytes in some families (Pinaceae, Podocarpaceae) recapitulate their hosts' phylogeny and have conserved associations with different fungal classes, highlighting the importance of host genetic background to endophytes worldwide. Recognizing the need to encompass timelines beyond the present, in my third chapter I focus on the potential for dried plant specimens, housed in herbaria, to serve as time capsules of endophyte diversity. Against the backdrop of the rapidly changing Arctic, my collaborators and I use historical plant collections to observe endophyte diversity and host affiliations over the past century. I show that both in the present day, and over collections made from 1886 to 2024, Arctic endophytes are diverse and climate-sensitive. Taken together, my work scales from nurseries to continents to characterize these fundamental symbioses over time, geography, and evolutionary history.
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Mark Beilstein, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
Bart Cardon Fellow
School of Plant Sciences
P.O. Box 210036
Forbes Building, Room 303
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
mab-lab.org<http://mab-lab.org/>
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