Molecular dissection of symbiosis regulation of plant immunity

Food production has been largely carried out through unsustainable farming practices, such as the application of large amounts of inorganic fertilizers to provide essential nutrients for crop growth. This has led to a loss of biodiversity, degradation of land quality, and environmental pollution. On the other hand, plants naturally associate with a wide variety of microorganisms, including some beneficial microbes that can infect plant roots to establish mutualistic relationships called symbioses. To establish these symbioses, plants must recognize these microbes as friends, not foes, and adjust their development and cellular physiology to accommodate microbial infection.

The project attempts to understand the molecular mechanisms in plants by which the perception of symbionts allows the suppression of immunity processes during the colonization by beneficial symbiotic microorganisms. It hopes to bring new insights into engineering nitrogen-fixing symbioses into crops, an important approach to sustaining cereal yields and reducing dependence on inorganic fertilizers.