Department of Terrestrial Microbial Ecology (TME)
Centre for Terrestrial Ecology (CTE)
Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW)
The research of TME delivers basic knowledge on the ecology, diversity and evolution of below- and above-ground microorganisms, particularly those in the rhizosphere (plant root zone), mycosphere (zone surrounding fungi), and phyllosphere (plant leaf surface). Questions we aim to answer include: what effect do plant surfaces and fungal hyphae exert on the structure and activity of their associated bacterial communities and how do microbial interactivities influence the functioning of plant- and fungus-associated microbial communities with special focus on mutualistic, pathogenic and antagonistic micro-organisms? TME is also member of the Ecogenomics Consortium (www.ecogenomics.nl), which aims to explore and unlock the sustainable life-support functions of soils through an ecogenomic approach.
Expertise:
Offered: |
Asked: |
- (qRT-)PCR
- DGGE
- high-throughput colony picking
- metagenomics:
- DNA/RNA preparation from rhizo-, myco-, and phyllosphere samples
- large-insert library construction
- stable-isotope probing
- functional gene annotation
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- (training in) analysis of microarray data
- software for in silico comparative genomics
- medium- and high-throughput sequencing
- metagenomic libraries for screening purposes
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Knowledge:
Focus on: interactivities of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) with each other and with plants
Research objects: microflora of the rhizo-, myco- and phyllosphere
Main research discipline: plant and soil microbiology
Project Topics:
- Genomic analysis of microbial community structure
- Functional analysis of nutrient cycling
- Genomics potential and activity of dominantly active, non-culturable soil bacteria
- Genomic analysis of bacterial mycoparasitism
- Detection of plant pathogens
- Activities of mycorrhizal fungi in soil systems
Website:
www.nioo.knaw.nl