Description

Plants live together with billions of beneficial bacteria. This so-called microbiome is found on and in plant roots, and offers protection against plant diseases. Recently we discovered that plants infected by fungal pathogens actively recruit microbes inside their root tissue, the endosphere, for protection. We will study how plant roots select these 'probiotics' and what the microbes then do to keep the plant heathy. To this purpose, we will study the microbiome, the genes and the metabolites in the roots of infected plants. Using nano-microscopic techniques we will look at where and how these protective microbes do their work. The obtained fundamental knowledge will provide a strong basis for developing innovative strategies that integrate microbiomes in plant breeding and sustainable crop protection.

Key publications

Víctor J. Carrión, Juan Perez-Jaramillo, Viviane Cordovez, Vittorio Tracanna, Mattias de Hollander, Daniel Ruiz-Buck, Lucas W. Mendes, Wilfred F.J. van IJcken, Ruth Gomez-Exposito, Somayah S. Elsayed, Prarthana Mohanraju, Adini Arifah, John van der Oost, Joseph N. Paulson, Rodrigo Mendes, Gilles P. van Wezel, Marnix H. Medema & Jos M. Raaijmakers (2019) Pathogen-induced activation of disease-suppressive functions in the endophytic root microbiome, Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw9285

van der Meij A., Willemse J.J., Schneijderberg M.A., Geurts R., Raaijmakers J.M. & Wezel G.P. van (2018) Inter- and intracellular colonization of Arabidopsis roots by endophytic actinobacteria and the impact of plant hormones on their antimicrobial activity, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 111(5): 679-690. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-018-1014-z

• endophytes
• host-microbe interactions
• microbiology
• plant-microbe interactions