Projects
RESEARCH INTERESTS
I am broadly interested in understanding plant relationships with mutualistic and antagonistic organisms, linking aboveground and belowground processes. I am particularly interested in sexually dimorphic plant breeding systems, the effects of climate change on plant-soil interactions, and how soil microbes can contribute to sustainable food production and Net Zero.
SOIL MICROBES AND FOOD PRODUCTION
A healthy, functional soil is key for sustainable food production. Some of my recent research projects investigates how AM fungi and other soil microbes may help in improving crop production. A summary of 2023 field studies here.
PLANT-SOIL INTERACTIONS IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE
Plant and soil communities have a major role in determining the impacts of climate change through the carbon cycle and thus, it is imperative to understand the consequences of climate-induced changes on plant-soil relationships. I test the effects of increasing climatic stress factors on plants and their symbionts to elucidate how plants and soils are responding to climate change.
SEX-SPECIFIC INTERACTIONS WITH AM FUNGI
I have been using sexually dimorphic plants (dioecious and gynodioecious systems) to investigate how the different sexes differ in their relationship with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi.
The main hypothesis being tested is strait-forward: since sexes in sexually dimorphic plants usually differ in resource needs and allocation patterns, and AM symbiosis mediates resource acquisition and allocation patterns through imposing both costs and benefits to the hosts, the sexes of sexually dimorphic plant species may possess, at least theoretically, a different relationship with their AM fungal root symbionts.
In addition, I investigate the consequences of plant sexual dimorphism for plant-pollinator and plant-herbivore interactions and how AM fungi influence these associations. I combine observational approaches with manipulative experiments both in the field and in greenhouse conditions and use molecular and physiological methods.
