- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
He will be hosted by assistant professor Brian Johnson, co-coordinator of the noonhour seminars with assistant professor Joanna Chiu.
Abbot’s abstract: “A history of antagonistic interactions within and between species can provide trait variation on which social and mutualistic evolution can subsequently act. Insects that feed on plants provide many examples of cooperation-out-of-conflict, and thus illustrate important principles about the evolutionary process. I will discuss how two groups of gall-forming insects have evolved social and mutualistic interactions on plants. In one, lateral gene transfer may have facilitated a mutualism between gall midges and phytopathogenic fungi on their host plants, Solidago spp. In the other, a gall-forming aphid, the ability to secrete factors that disrupt the immune responses of natural enemies may be a key innovation that facilitates sociality in this group.”
The lecture will be recorded for later viewing on UCTV.
Abbot received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the Department of Zoology, University of Georgia; his master’s degree in behavioral ecology from the Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University; and his doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology from the Department of Evolution and Biology, University of Arizona. He then served as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow from 2002 to 2003 at the University of Texas, Austin, in microbial evolution.
His research expertise centers on molecular ecology, evolution and genomics of herbivorous insects and their symbionts. “I have a particular interest in gall-forming insects, and have worked on aphids, flies and ants.” His lab focuses on social evolution and insect diversification.
Abbot has published in ecological, microbiological and evolutionary journals on research that utilizes techniques from animal behavior, molecular ecology and genomics.
See list of upcoming seminars hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.