Start Date
12-2-2024 3:45 PM
End Date
12-2-2024 5:00 PM
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are low molecular weight molecules that easily evaporate at room temperature. Fungal VOCs are responsible for the musty odors we associate with damp indoor environments. It has been hypothesized that they contribute to “sick building syndrome.” The Bennett lab has developed several genetic model systems to test the toxicity of fungal VOCs and found that VOCs have a range of unexpected biological functions.
Biography
Joan W. Bennett received her PhD from the University of Chicago and spent over thirty years on the faculty of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since 2006 she has been a Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University where she also served as an Associate Vice President for Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics. She is past president of the both the American Society of Microbiology and the Society of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology. In 2005 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and in 2021 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Additional Links
ORCID
0009-0000-3747-6430
More than just a funky smell: fungal volatiles have physiological consequences
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are low molecular weight molecules that easily evaporate at room temperature. Fungal VOCs are responsible for the musty odors we associate with damp indoor environments. It has been hypothesized that they contribute to “sick building syndrome.” The Bennett lab has developed several genetic model systems to test the toxicity of fungal VOCs and found that VOCs have a range of unexpected biological functions.