Plant-microbiome interactions for a sustainable future
Project type: Master thesis, Special project
Background:
Our current agricultural practices, in a period facing profound climate changes and a growing population, are neither sustainable nor sufficient. Modern agriculture, due to its dependence on agrichemicals (fertilizers, pesticides herbicides etc) has largely ignored the role of a healthy soil & plant microbiome. Plants form complex associations with diverse microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, nematodes and viruses (the plant microbiome) to meet their needs, such as, nutrient uptake, stress tolerance and disease resilience. This microbiome can also be considered the ‘stress management toolbox’ of the plant. In our research, we investigate the assembly of- and interactions between- microorganisms harboured in the plant-soil nexus. We also study their role in plant growth promotion and plant protection, in order to develop sustainable alternatives to agrichemicals.
Types of projects:
The applicant will join the Section of Microbiology, under the microbial expertise of Professor Søren Sørensen’s lab, where research benefits from strong interdisciplinary and international collaborations. Asst. Prof. Tanvi Taparia leads the fun ‘plant microbiome team’ which presently comprises of 3 postdocs, 1 PhD student, 1 Research Assistant and 2 Master students.
Here is an overview of the different questions/ we work with:
- How does the plant select and acquire a ‘beneficial’ microbiome?
- Does the microbiome from domesticated and native plants differ in function?
- How does the plant microbiome develop over time & space?
- How small can we sample? Can we look at which microbe is sitting next to whom?
- What does the social life of microbes look like within the plant microbiome?
- Can a ‘beneficial’ bacteria become a victim of ‘bad’ company?
- Can we use the interactions between microbes to design a synthetic community?
- Do community based bioinoculants outperform single strains?
Techniques covered:
- Classical microbiology
- In-vitro and in-vivo assays
- Confocal microscopy
- Fluorescent activated cell sorting
- Microcosm & plant experiments
- PCR and qPCR
- Sequencing (Sanger, 16S amplicon, whole genome, shotgun metagenomes)
- Bioinformatics (Amplicon data, Metagenomics, Pangenomics)
If you are interested to make a project, please contact Tanvi. Starting dates are flexible.
Tanvi Taparia (tanvi.taparia@bio.ku.dk)