I am currently a PhD researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where I work with Toby Kiers and Vasilis Kokkoris on the cellular biology and nuclear dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Before coming to the Netherlands, I completed my Master’s with Ronelle Roth at the University of Oxford, also working with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi – they stole my heart!
These fungi form tiny symbiotic structures inside plant root cells, called arbuscules. Over the course of a signaling conversation between plant and fungus, the arbuscule branches and branches, eventually filling the plant cell, which has been totally reprogrammed to accommodate its fungal partner. Across this shared structure the pair engage in a mutually beneficial exchange of nutrients. In exchange for phosphorous and other nutrients that the fungus has foraged from the soil, the plant provides the fungus with an essential source of carbon in the form of lipids. The fungus transports this carbon out of the root, where it is used to build its expansive mycelium.
Zeiss Axio Imager M2
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal mycelium is remarkable in many ways. Despite its size and complexity, a whole network is only made up of a single cell, through which nuclei, lipids and other cell contents are constantly flowing at high speeds. I am interested in the implications this unique cell biology has for the ecology of these organisms, and how an increase in this understanding can inform our efforts to protect these fungi and the ecosystems that depend on them so intricately.
Publications
