PhD defence: Plant-driven assembly of disease-suppressive microbiomes
In agriculture, plants are cultivated for food production, but crop yields are challenged by microorganisms that cause disease. As a result, global food production heavily relies on chemical pesticides to prevent crop losses. However, plants host complex and diverse microbial communities (microbiomes). In addition to harmful microorganisms, these complex microbiomes comprise harmless or even beneficial microbes. Therefore, the microbiome is crucial for plant health.
Plants can partially influence the composition of their microbiome. Plants infected by disease-causing microbes, such as downy mildew, can attract beneficial microorganisms that help suppress the disease. Interestingly, the next generation of plants benefits from improved disease protection when grown in soil previously inhabited by infected plants. This means that plants can create so-called disease-suppressive soils, which have the potential to significantly reduce the use of pesticides in agriculture.
In this dissertation, we used the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to investigate which microorganisms are responsible for this disease suppression, how they are recruited by infected plants, and how they are transmitted to the next generation of plants growing in the disease-suppressive soil. Remarkably, our research revealed that especially the microbiomes on the leaves of downy mildew infected plants play a crucial role in the creation of the disease-suppressive soil. These insights could help in developing crop varieties that are better equipped to create disease-suppressive soils, paving the way for a more sustainable form of agriculture.
PLEASE NOTE: The candidate gives a layman's talk prior to the defense of the dissertation; therefore, the livestream will start fifteen minutes earlier.
- Start date and time
- End date and time
- Location
- Hybride: online (livestream link) en voor genodigden in het Academiegebouw, Domplein 29
- PhD candidate
- J. Spooren
- Dissertation
- Plant-driven assembly of disease-suppressive microbiomes
- PhD supervisor(s)
- prof. dr. ir. C.M.J. Pieterse
- Co-supervisor(s)
- dr. R.L. Berendsen
- More information
- Full text via Utrecht University Repository