Ustilago maydis and Sporisorium reilianum are closely related smut fungi which have similar genomes and both infect the same host, Zea mays. While U. maydis is able to infect all aerial parts of the plant and forms large tumors locally at sites of infection, S. reilianum infects systemically and replaces the inflorescences by teliospores.

Due to their genomic synteny, interspecific hybridization can be used to investigate the impact on virulence and host specificity. My aim is to get further insights in the impact of interspecific hybridization on gene expression level, genome compatibility and the basis of the different disease development.

Dr. Janina Werner

University of Cologne

CEPLAS / Institiute for Plant Sciences
Chair of Terrestrial Microbiology
Zülpicher Straße 47a
D-50674 Cologne

E-Mail: jwerne24@uni-koeln.de
Tel:  +49 221-470-7831
Fax: +49 221-470-7406