Matt did his PhD in the Angenent Lab at Cornell University, where he studied how novel robust, interconnected metabolic networks can be shaped in the microbial communities of anaerobic, open-culture bioreactors. His postdoctoral work was mostly carried out at the Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, where he found that microbe-microbe interactions play important roles in shaping leaf microbial communities in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Matt is since November 2017 a Junior Research Group Leader in the Plant Microbiosis Lab, which is enbedded in the Institute of Microbiology at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. His research interests focus around how and why microbial communities form in natural systems, especially the roles of microbe-microbe interactions. His research currently focuses on plant-associated microorganisms.

He enjoys spending time with his family and friends, especially when it gets him outdoors.

E-mail: matthew.agler (at) uni-jena (dot) de 

Phone: +49 (0)3641 9 49980 

Mariana completed her Bachelor's in Agricultural Sciences and Master's in Biology at the University of Costa Rica. Her Bachelor's and Master's theses focused on microbial communities in anaerobic digestors and on production of value-added lipids form pineapple plant residues by an oleaginous fungus. Both projects were co-supervised by Dr. Lidieth Uribe Lorío and Dr. Wei Liao at Michigan State University. Her interest in plant-microbe interactions began as a bachelor student when she collaborated on several projects in the Agricultural Microbiology Lab of Dr. Uribe concerning biocontrol and use of plant growth promoting microorganisms.

In the Plant Microbiosis Lab, Mariana will investigate how microbial communities are recruited in leaves of plants with convergently evolved traits. Specifically, she will investigate how resources available to leaf colonizers shape microbial communities and drive microbe-microbe interactions.

In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and climbing. 

Contact: mariana.murillo-Roos (at) uni-jena (dot) de

Jisna did her Bachelor’s in Biotechnology (Multi-major) at the University of Kerala and Master’s in Plant Science at the Central University of Kerala, India. Her research experience includes an internship at the Banaras Hindu University with the focus on Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles by Withania coagulans Dunal from in vitro grown plantlets and its effect on withanolide biosynthesis under the supervision of Dr. Rai Shashi Pandey. Her Masters thesis focused on the background effects on SWEET gene induction by Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae, supervised by Dr. Ginny Antony. She also worked on two other projects in the same group: Functional analysis of putative genes in Arabidopsis thaliana using CRISPR/Cas9 mediated multiplex gene editing and identification of novel effector genes in Phytophthora palmivora using CRISPR/Cas9 mediated gene knock-out.

In the Plant Microbiosis Lab, Jisna will study what, if anything, makes A. thaliana leaf microbiota resileint. Her goal is to use forward genetics methods to generate abnormal endophytic leaf microbiota, and to use this abnormal microbiota to understand the mechanisms of balanced leaf microbiome recruitment and the importance in disease susceptibility. 

In her free time Jisna enjoys dancing (basically Indian classical dance), practicing yoga and cooking. 

Contact: jisna.jose (at) uni-jena (dot) de 

Kerstin completed her bachelor’s in Food and Nutrition Science with a focus on food microbiology in Fulda, Germany. Inspired by many questions about microbial interactions which came up during her bachelor’s project in the lab of Prof. Rohtraud Pichner, she decided to learn more about microbiology in general and proceeded with a master’s in microbiology in Jena. In 2019, she started in the Plant Microbiosis lab for her master’s project (co-supervised by Prof. Erika Kothe) where she established a bacterial collection from a local Arabidopsis population and investigated the interaction between individual bacterial taxa and different Arabidopsis genotypes with chemically diverse glucosinolates. This type of plant-microbe interaction caught her attention, and with her Ph.D. project she now wants to find out more about the interplay between plant defense metabolites, pathogenic microbes, and the commensal community in the leaves.

During her free time, Kerstin likes to read, go hiking, and to cook and bake for her friends.

Contact: kerstin.unger (at) uni-jena (dot) de

Ali completed his Master's in Evolution, Ecology and Systematics at the Friedrich Schiller University o Jena in 2020. His thesis entitled 'Climate and humanity in focus: population responses to short-term changes in aridity and temperature' was supervised by Dr René Orth (Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry) and Prof. Aletta Bonn (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research).

In addition to his Master's degree, he was involved in a project related to insect olfaction at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. The project uncovered the chemical ecology of a multitrophic interaction in the Hansson lab. The results have since been peer-reviewed and published. 

In the plant microbiosis lab, Ali will investigate how temperature and hosts together influence microbial assemblage in the phyllosphere. The project aims to investigate aspects of leaf colonisation, including but not limited to the influence of cold dormancy, the combinatorial role of temperature and glucosinolates, and the effect of temperature on bacterial isothiocyanate resistance. This project is being carried out in collaboration with the Gershenzon lab.

In his free time, he likes to read, binge Sci-fi, go to concerts and hang out with his friends. 

Contact: ali.raza (at) uni-jena (dot) de

Shubhangi completed her Bachelor's in Botany from the University of Delhi followed by her Master's in Microbiology at the Amity University. During her Master thesis she studied the interaction between root endophytic fungus Serendipita indica and its endobacteria, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Philipp Franken. This sparked her interest in the field of plant-microbe interactions, which led her to pursue her PhD as a Marie Curie early stage researcher in the group of Prof. Dr. Phlipp Franken and Dr. Silke Ruppel at the Leibniz-Institut für Gemüse- und Zierpflanzenbau, Erfurt and Berlin. During her PhD she studied the functional interaction between plant beneficial bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizoglomus irregulare and root endophytic fungi S. indica to improve their use as bioinoculants in sustainable agriculture.

At the plant microbiosis lab, Shubhangi is investigating the role of plant-fungal interaction as a driver of bacterial genetic diversity in the phyllosphere of Arabidopsis thaliana. She is interested in understanding the interplay of different factors such as host genotype, host chemotype and microbe-microbe interactions in shaping the bacterial community structure in leaves.

In her free time, Shubhangi likes to spend time with her family and friends, play boardgames and explore museums.

Contact: shubhangi.sharma (at) uni-jena (dot) de