Name: How fungi recognize (and infect) plants
Uploaded: 2018-03-27T19:56:43Z
Duration: 4 min 26 s
Description: Each year, the world loses enough food to feed half a billion people to fungi, the most destructive pathogens of plants. Mycologist and TED Fellow Mennat El Ghalid explains how a breakthrough in our understanding of the molecular signals fungi use to attack plants could disrupt this interaction -- and save our crops.

Each year, the world loses enough food to feed half a billion people to fungi, the most destructive pathogens of plants. Mycologist and TED Fellow Mennat El Ghalid explains how a breakthrough in our understanding of the molecular signals fungi use to attack plants could disrupt this interaction -- and save our crops.

Mennat El Ghalid: How fungi recognize (and infect) plants

How fungi recognize (and infect) plants

Fungal diseases claim enough food yearly to feed half a billion, posing a dire threat to global food security and economy.

Understanding fungi-plant molecular interactions offers a new battlefront in agriculture, promising enhanced crop protection.

Fungi, unable to move, devastate crops costing billions annually; understanding their signals could lead to innovative treatments.