Evolution of Plant-Microbe Interactions

Plant transition to land from freshwater was largely facilitated by their interaction with microbes around 500 MYA. After that transition, plants diversified their developmental strategies with the acquisition of anatomical novelties, including the emergence of new cell-types and functions. Those novelties enabled plants to colonize new habitats where they had to interact with new potential biotic threats. Therefore, along with developmental strategies, plants diversified their immune systems to adapt to new ecological niches. In my talk I will our efforts towards understanding the molecular basis of the establishment of the symbiotic interactions that enabled plant colonization and how the diversification of developmental strategies impacted the evolution of plant immune programs.