Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are symbionts that colonize the roots of land plants and offer several benefits to plants including improved mineral nutrition and protection against pathogens. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were already present in the roots of the first plants that colonized land. Therefore, mycorrhizal fungi and plants have co-evolved for millions of years. This co-evolution might have shaped the genetics and genome structure of mycorrhizal fungi, but the understanding of the genetics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is still limited. In vitro, the genotype of a model arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus intraradices, is altered by the species of plant that the fungus colonizes. In the field, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can colonize several different plant species simultaneously. Thus, I am investigating how simultaneous connection to different host species affects the genotype of Glomus intraradices. My current project encompasses developing new molecular markers that can be used in a range of studies about the genetics of Glomus intraradices.
2011 –
Postdoctoral fellow
Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne Switzerland
Supervisor: Prof. Ian R. Sanders
2006 – 2010
Ph.D.
Department of Biology, University of Miami, USA
Supervisor: Prof. David P. Janos
“Performance of Pinus elliottii var. densa seedlings reflects ectomycorrhizas, soil mineral nutrient availability and root competition”
2006
M.Sc.
Department of Ecology and Evolution & Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Supervisors: Prof. Ian R. Sanders & Prof. Jan Roelof van der Meer
“Attachment of soil bacteria to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi”
