HUH Seminar Series - Cathie Aime

Cathie Aime
Professor of Botany & Plant Pathology
Purdue University

Title: The coffee leaf rust fungus: unraveling the origins and causes of a notorious agricultural pathogen
 

Abstract: Coffee is the world’s single most traded agricultural commodity, the production of which supports approximately 125 million people, primarily small shareholders living in low-income countries. Coffee leaf rust (CLR), which is caused by the rust fungus Hemileia vastatrix, is the most important limiting factor to global coffee production and has been responsible for notorious epidemics both historically and in modern times that have had profound impacts on human societies. Our lab has applied multiple approaches, drawing on population genetics, genomics, analysis of historical specimens, rust biology, and global field surveys, to trace the path of H. vastatrix — from its emergence in the 1860s to its present-day range — and to understand the drivers of epidemic outbreaks and the consequences of these for growers and consumers.