Lecture Overview

In Part 1 of her lecture, Ronald emphasizes the importance of developing sustainable agricultural practices that will allow the world’s population to be fed without destroying the Earth. Ronald demonstrates that modern genetics approaches have facilitated development of new crop varieties that can increase crop yields while reducing insecticide use. She proposes that the judicious incorporation of two important strands of agriculture—agricultural biotechnology and agroecological practices—is key to helping feed the growing population and she provides compelling examples to support her stand.

In Part 2, Ronald describes work from her lab that led to the discovery of a plant sensor of conserved microbial signatures called XA21. Subsequent discoveries in other laboratories revealed that mammals carry very similar receptors called TOLL-like receptors.The XA21 receptor recognizes a sulfated peptide conserved across a broad class of bacteria. Ronald’s group has shown that the biological function of this molecule is to facilitate bacterial cell-cell communication. Ronald also describes exciting work that resulted in the development of rice strains that will survive and bear crop even after extended periods of submergence; a huge help to rice farmers in flood prone regions of the world.

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