Research Group
Cereal Symbiosis based at the Crop Science Centre
Research Overview
The mutually beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is the most widespread association between roots of terrestrial plants and fungi of the Glomeromycota. The association receives increasing scientific attention because of the nutritional benefit it confers to plants, its ubiquitous occurrence among contemporary plant species and, as a result of its evolutionary antiquity, an ancestral relationship to other plant interactions. Our research focuses on molecular mechanisms underlying the formation and functioning of AM symbioses in rice and maize. It aims at developing knowledge to optimize the incorporation of the AM-symbiosis into sustainable yet modern agricultural practices.
School of Biological Sciences theme affiliations
Teaching
Teaches on the Natural Sciences Tripos, including 1A Physiology of Organisms, 1B Plant and Microbial Sciences and Part II M2 Microbes: Genomes, Evolution and Lifestyles.
Previous Positions
2019 to present - Professor - University of Cambridge
2017 to 2019 - Reader - University of Cambridge
2012 to 2017 - Lecturer - University of Cambridge
2006 to 2012 - Assistant Professor - University of Lausanne, University of Lausanne
2003 to 2006 - Junior Group Leader - University of Geneva, Switzerland
2000 to 2003 - Staff Scientist - Syngenta Global AG, Switzerland
Qualifications
1993 - PhD - ETH Zürich, Switzerland
1989 - Diplom - University Cologne, Germany
Key Publications
For all publications see Google Scholar.
Awards and Fellowships
2020 - Member - EMBO
