Dr Chris Bell - University of Leeds

Dr Chris Bell

Parasites severely restrict global crop production by draining resources from their hosts. During parasitism host plants may also interact with mutualists, such as mycorrhizal fungi, that may enhance plant vigour. Co-occurring organisms can greatly affect the success of each other, however they are mainly researched in isolation, limiting the representation and understanding of natural systems. My research uses molecular and field-based approaches to gain understanding of how plants concurrently interact with contrasting symbionts and the implications of plant-mutualist interactions on the parasite population. We see complex interkingdom interactions whereby mutualistic fungi can induces changes in the host plants resource profile, which is perceived and responded to by a parasitic animal to maximise its own reproductive success. Overall, this indicates that a healthier host can often translate into a healthier parasite population, and promoting plant-mutualists in agricultural systems may in fact be detrimental to overall crop health.