Mitzy Porras: 'Manipulation of Plant and Insect Phenotypes'
Seminar Set for 4:10 p.m. Feb. 10 in 122 Briggs Hall
Mitzy Porras, assistant professor of global change ecology in the Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, will present a UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar on Feb. 10 on "Manipulation of Plant and Insect Phenotypes."
Porras will speak at 4:10 p.m., Monday, Feb. 10 in 122 Briggs Hall and via Zoom. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672/
"Understanding mechanisms underlying the effects of environmental fluctuations on parasite-host interactions is critical to ecology," Porras says in her abstract. "Here, we showed that a virus increased vector heat tolerance in 8 °C by the upregulation of three new heat shock proteins. The viral induced heat tolerance reduced the vector’s competition with other species, leading to the host’s niche expansion."
"This finding indicates that we cannot expect to understand how an organism responds to the environment by studying it alone, as viral infections might change its performance. This new dimension opens a wide array of research avenues with fundamental and applied implications for disease dynamics in natural and managed ecosystems."
Porras, who joined the San Francisco State University faculty in May of 2024, after serving as a scientific researcher and postdoctoral scholar at Pennsylvania State University, holds a bachelor's degree in biology and ecology (2009) from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia, and a doctorate (2018) in community ecology from Pennsylvania State University.
"We study how global change drivers alter interactions among species (microbes, plants, invertebrates) and the implications on the structure and function of populations and communities," Porras writes on her lab website. "With an approach ranging from gene to ecosystem and from physiology to emerging ecological patterns, our work encompasses molecular biology, physiology, behavioral analysis, population and community ecology, GIS, as well as electrical engineering. Our results play a pivotal role in informing ecosystem management strategies."
Nematologist Amanda Hodson, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, coordinates the weekly seminars, held every Monday at 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall. She may be reached at akhodson@ucdavis.edu for any Zoom issues. The seminar recordings are archived at https://entnem.ucdavis.edu/seminars.