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Garden Club Scholarship
Alison Fisher
2090 Pacific Ave. #506
San Francisco, CA 94109
afisher@ucdavis.edu
 Plant pathogenic fungi can have major impacts on the structure and function of plant communities. My dissertation research focused on the ecology and genetics of a fungal pathogen that reaches very high levels of infection on salt marsh cordgrass species of the genus Spartina. The fungus, Claviceps purpurea, commonly known as ergot, has been studied as an agricultural disease for over 100 years. However, three years ago divisions within the species were identified and one group was found to be specific to salt marsh habitats. The results of my research showed that salt marsh adapted ergot has a worldwide distribution and there are distinct genetic differences between populations on the Atlantic coast of the United States (US), the Pacific Coast of the US, Western Europe and the Atlantic Coast of South America. In California, native cordgrass species are more heavily impacted by salt marsh ergot than invasive cordgrasses. In Washington State, where there are no native cordgrasses, I determined that salt marsh ergot could be used to control invasive cordgrasses if high infection rates were achieved.
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