PhD defence: Synthetic microbial communities: a systems approach to understanding root microbiome dynamics and functioning
When plants grow in soil, their roots release carbon molecules that attract microbes. These microbes colonize the roots, forming a complex system known as the root microbiome. Similar to the human gut microbiome, a balanced and diverse root microbiome provides numerous benefits to its host. For plants, this includes boosting immunity, repressing pathogens, enhancing nutrient uptake, and increasing tolerance to environmental stresses.
To harness these beneficial interactions and improve crop resilience, we need a deeper understanding of how the root microbiome forms and functions. Beneficial microbial activities, such as pathogen suppression, depend on microbes successfully establishing themselves in the root microbiome. To explore this, we conducted synthetic community (SynCom) inoculation experiments. In these experiments, microbes cultured from plant roots in natural soil are combined into a custom microbial community (SynCom) and introduced to plants in sterile conditions. This approach allowed us to study how individual microbes interact with each other and with the plant to form root-associated microbial communities.
By analyzing both experimental and publicly available SynCom datasets, I uncovered key factors influencing root microbiome establishment. Successful colonizers exhibit specific traits: the ability to metabolize diverse compounds, motility, strategies to evade plant immune responses, and mechanisms to inhibit other microbes. This research demonstrates that combining SynCom experiments with advanced bioinformatics can unravel the principles of root microbiome formation. These insights pave the way for developing bioinoculants to enhance crop resilience against stresses, offering potential solutions to challenges exacerbated by climate change.
- Start date and time
- End date and time
- Location
- Hybride: online (livestream link) and for invited guests in the Utrecht University Hall, Domplein 29
- PhD candidate
- G. Selten
- Dissertation
- Synthetic microbial communities: a systems approach to understanding root microbiome dynamics and functioning
- PhD supervisor(s)
- prof. dr. ir. C.M.J. Pieterse
- Co-supervisor(s)
- dr. R. De Jonge
- More information
- Full text via Utrecht University Repository