Like human gut microbiota, plant roots host a group of bacterial community that is beneficial to its health. Among the bacterial community, the rhizobia bacteria could establish nitrogen fixation symbiosis with legume plants, hence promotes growth of legumes. During Ke Tao’s PhD study, she investigated how the nitrogen fixation symbiosis influence the composition of bacterial community in the model legume Lotus japonicus roots. To gain a deeper understanding, she isolated around 40% bacteria that colonized at Lotus roots and established a synthetic bacterial community to inoculate Lotus. Ke Tao found the rhizobia symbiont act as “hub” to structure a taxonomic diverse bacterial community, and the taxonomic diversity bacterial community gives higher shoot yield of Lotus together with the rhizobia symbiont than the symbiont alone.

The PhD study was completed at Science Park, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time:  Wednesday, 6 May 2020 at 13:00.
Place:  Will be held online. To receive a link to the event, please send an e-mail to Simona Radutoiu, radutoiu@mbg.au.dk.  
Title of PhD thesis: Host-microbe signalling shaping the root and nodule microbiota assembly of Lotus japonicus
Contact information: Ke Tao, e-mail: ketao@mbg.au.dk, tel.: +45 53 33 49 98
Members of the assessment committee:
Professor Corné Pieterse, Department of Plant-Microbe Interactions, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Associate Professor Mette Haubjerg Nicolaisen, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Associate Professor Knud Erik Larsen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University (chair)
Main supervisor:
Associate Professor Simona Radutoiu, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor:
Professor Jens Stougaard, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus university, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defence is public.
The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Science and Technology/GSST,
Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, 8000 Aarhus C.