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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Mark A Beilstein <mbeilstein@arizona.edu>
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<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, July 30, 2025 9:08 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> plsgs@list.cals.arizona.edu; plsfaculty@list.cals.arizona.edu; Romens, David - (dromens) <dromens@arizona.edu><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [CATMAIL]Brooke Sykes, Dissertation Defense, Monday, 4 August, 10 AM Marley 230<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1A1A1A">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.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1A1A1A">You may also attend virtually at:
</span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://arizona.zoom.us/j/6254403122?omn%3D85445796521&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw053ny5JDb1KsOE5Gy_jQCU"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:#0E2663">https://arizona.zoom.us/j/6254403122?omn=85445796521</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:#0E2663"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1A1A1A">Password: Fungi<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1A1A1A">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">___________________<br>
<span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif">Mark Beilstein, Ph.D.<br>
Associate Professor</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif">Director of Graduate Studies</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif">Bart Cardon Fellow</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif">School of Plant Sciences</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif">P.O. Box 210036<br>
Forbes Building, Room 303<br>
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://mab-lab.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif">mab-lab.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">____________________<o:p></o:p></p>
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