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.

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.

Michiel Vandecasteele obtained his PhD in Bioscience Engineering at Ghent University in 2019. During his PhD, he studied the occurrence, genotypic diversity, and the mode of action of pathogenic Alternaria species on Flemish potato fields, while also performing educational tasks as an assistant. In 2020, he returned to the Rhizosphere group as a doctor-assistant since he performed his Master's thesis in the same group eight years prior. Now, he investigates the action of drought-tolerance-inducing rhizobacteria on maize plants.

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.

My career path

I am full professor at Ghent University and group leader at the VIB center of Plant Systems Biology in Belgium. I combine research and education because I think they cannot be separated and they strengthen each other. Hence, apart from my scientific activities, I am intensively involved in education and educational organization. 

My research career started in 1987 at the UGent focusing on how interactions between plant roots and neighboring organisms influence plant growth in a positive way.
Initially, the emphasis was on the symbiosis between legumes and rhizobia, resulting in the formation of new root organs, the nodules, in which the rhizobia reside and fix atmospheric nitrogen for the plant.  At that time, we studied the non-model symbiosis between the tropical legume Sesbania rostrata and the bacterium Azorhizobium caulinodans and could unravel the early signaling events and specific adaptations that have evolved to enable this peculiar nodulation upon water submergence. During my post-doc and early group leader career, we studied long-distance control of nodule organogenesis in the model legume Medicago truncatula and made significant contributions to understand how the nodule number is controlled.
During my early career, I went three times abroad for a prolonged period at the Laboratoire de Biologie des Sols, ORSTOM (Dakar, Sénégal) (Prof. Dreyfus), at the MSU-DOE, Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI, USA) (Prof. De Bruijn) and at the ETH-Zürich, Institute of Plant Sciences (Prof. Potrykus), providing me both international connections and abroad research experience.

In 2005, I became professor at the Ghent University in the currently named Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics. This department is also embedded in the VIB Center of Plant Systems Biology of the VIB. Since 2010, I am appointed full-time principal investigator of the Rhizosphere group at VIB. In my group, we still study the molecular communication between roots and rhizosphere microorganisms but the studies go beyond the rhizobia legume interaction as you can read from our web page. In 2017, I became full professor.

I find it very important that our basic research has valuable economic and societal relevance. Together with VIB colleagues, I am  very proud to have established the start-up Aphea.Bio (www.aphea.bio, 2017) focusing on the use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in agriculture. Recently, together with ILVO, I contributed to the start-up Protealis (https://www.protealis.com) aiming at the production of sustainable plant protein for Europe.