Researchers from Aarhus University have now discovered the receptor complex crucial for initiating symbiotic signaling in legume plants that engage in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. In the study published in Science, the researchers describe a novel technique using nanobodies to investigate and activate receptor complexes. Surprisingly, the technique also identified barley receptors with a similar function. This opens a new perspective for more sustainable agri-food systems by engineering root nodule symbiosis into important crops using their own genes.

A group of teachers at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Aarhus University has joined forces with former students to develop the teaching of structural biology. The result is a whole new way of teaching computer skills, and it has been well received by new students.

Magnus Kjærgaard has received DKK 5 million from the Carlsberg Foundation’s Semper Ardens Programme to study the regulation of membraneless organelles. Understanding how cells control such organelles is key to understanding the molecular processes of life, but also for understanding a whole new type of disease mechanisms where this assembly is disturbed.

PhD defense, Friday 3 February 2023, Laust Bavnhøj

PhD defence, Friday 2 December 2022. Asger Givskov Jørgensen