Sonia obtained her PhD in Biochemistry and Biotechnology in 2022 in the group of Prof. Anne Willems (Laboratory of Microbiology, University of Gent) and Prof. Sofie Goormachtig (VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology). During her PhD, she studied the effect of low temperatures on the microbiome of two cold tolerant plants, Valerianella locusta and Poa annua, and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The aim was to identify bacteria able to alleviate cold stress in plants. She is now a postdoctoral scientist in the group of Prof. Sofie Goormachtig at VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology since 2023. As a part of the BOOSTER project, she investigates how drought shapes maize microbiomes to identify drought-enriched bacteria that might promote plant growth under this abiotic stress and understand their mode of action.

I completed my Master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at Ghent University in 2021. During my studies, I conducted my Master’s thesis research in the Vascular Development lab at PSB. Presently, I am pursuing my PhD through a collaborative effort involving the company Aphea.Bio and two research labs at PSB: the Advanced Live Cell Imaging and Rhizosphere labs. My current research focuses on unraveling the mode-of-action of biocontrol agents against fungal pathogens in wheat.

Naomi obtained her master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from Ghent University in 2020. For her master’s thesis she performed an Erasmus exchange to the Sainsbury lab of Cambridge University (SLCU), where she worked on the role MtLSH1 and MtNOOT1/2 during early nodule organogenesis in Medicago truncatula within the group of Prof. Dr. Giles Oldroyd. Currently, Naomi is performing her PhD research (FWO-SB fellowship) at the Rhizosphere group of Prof. Dr. Sofie Goormachtig, this time shifting her focus to another symbiont: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). During her PhD, Naomi uses diverse single cell and -nuclei transcriptomics and proteomics approaches to obtain a better understanding of the immunity-related crosstalk occurring during the tomato-AMF symbiotic interaction.

Predoctoral fellow

In the context of my master dissertation, I performed research at the Rhizosphere group on the involvement of germin-like proteins (GLPs) in the establishment and progression of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) symbiosis. This thesis was conducted with the aim of increasing the understanding of plant genes, such as GLPs, in mediating AMF colonization, which in the long term may enhance AMF-induced crop growth benefits, and thereby its agricultural applicability as biofertilizer. In 2023, I started my PhD focussing on expanding local soybean cultivation towards northern latitudes. The establishment of symbiosis with indigenous rhizobia strains acclimatized to these regions is crucial for efficient nitrogen fixation and the production of protein-rich beans. The ‘Soy in 1000 Garden’ initiative has unveiled the coexistence of beneficial local Bradyrhizobium sp. and non-diazotrophic Tardiphaga robiniae within functional soybean nodules, raising questions about their role as either symbiotic facilitators or competitive exploiters.

Marjon obtained her Master's degree in Biology at Ghent University in 2021. For her master thesis she worked in the lab of Sofie Goormachtig on the molecular pathways involved in the plant growth promoting effect of Caulobacter RHG1 on Arabidopsis thaliana. After her studies she started as assistant in the Rhizosphere group, conducting her PhD research under supervision of Dr. Sylwia Struk. Her research focusses on elucidating which proteins are involved in the autoregulation of nodulation pathway in Medicago truncatula.

I graduated in 2018 as a Master of Science in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at Ghent University, after which I performed my master thesis in the Rhizosphere group, investigating the function of parasitic KAI2 homologs in strigolactone signaling. In 2019, I then started my PhD to further unravel the KAI2 signaling pathway in Arabidopsis seeds and its role in seed germination, with a special interest in the function of the SMAX1 protein in all of this.