Boston Flora

Tag: Irish potato famine

  • Tuesday, May 2, 6:00 pm – The Evolution and Migration of the Irish Potato Famine Pathogen: Darwin’s Painfully Interesting Subject

    Jean Beagle Ristaino, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Plant Pathology and Director of Emerging Plant Disease and Global Food Security, North Carolina State University, will speak on Tuesday, May 2, at the Harvard University Science Center, 1 Oxford Street in Cambridge, in a Harvard Museum of Natural History program entitled The Evolution and Migration of the Irish Potato Famine Pathogen. The culprit behind the nineteenth-century Irish potato famine was Phytophthora infestans, a fungus-like microorganism that causes the disease known as “potato late blight.” New genetic tools have enabled scientists to piece together the evolution of this pathogen and the history of its outbreaks in Ireland. Jean Ristaino will discuss the latest research on P. infestans and describe Charles Darwin’s early role in the search for durable resistance to this serious plant disease. Free parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. Free and open to the public.

  • Monday, September 24, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – A Brief History of Plant Pathology: from the Irish Potato Famine to the Present

    Plants maintain complex relationships with a wide spectrum of microorganisms. A significant portion of these interactions are with plant pathogenic microorganisms, which cause diseases of various plant parts and thereby decrease crop productivity. Studying plant diseases is vital to understanding the biology of plants, which, in turn, provides crucial information for successful agriculture. Archana Vasanthakumar, Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, SEAS, Harvard University,  will explore the impact of plant diseases on humankind, beginning with the Irish Potato Famine in the late nineteenth century—an event that has been heralded as the beginning of plant pathology as a discipline. She will go on to examine the role of plant pathology in current agriculture. The program will take place Monday, September 24, from 7 – 8:30 at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum. Free, but registration requested (www.arboretum.harvard.edu).