About us

Plants accommodate and continuously interact with a species-rich microbiota including a multitude of bacteria, fungi or oomycetes. These microbes collectively function as a microbiome and, similar to the microbial communities in human or animal guts, they impact nutrition and health of their host. For instance, plant microbiota members can improve nutrient acquisition or provide pathogen protection. In our research we address the following fundamental questions of plant microbiome biology:

- How do plants communicate with the root microbiota and take influence on their activities?

- What is the functional contribution of the root microbiota to plant growth and disease protection?

Ultimately, our research mission is that beneficial plant microbiome interactions can be implemented in smart and sustainable agriculture. We mainly work with Arabidopsis thaliana and Zea mays as models and we combine field and laboratory experiments with methods in microbiomics, molecular biology, microbiology, plant genetics and bioinformatics.

 

 

 

Address

University of Basel
Department of Environmental Sciences
Plant Microbe Interactions
Bernoullistrasse 32
CH-4056 Basel

 

News

Congratulations Dr. Katja!

Congratulations Dr. Katja!

25.09.2025
Katja Stengele successfully defended her PhD thesis. She investigated how plants respond to different soil microbiomes, i.e. how plants mediated microbial feedbacks on growth, development and/or defence. Katja established an experimental system with two soil microbiome variants allowing to study their differential feedbacks on the model plant Arabidopsis. While benefical soil microbiome enhanced growth and primed for better defence, this was not seen for the non-beneficial soil microbiome. Katja identified conserved plant transcription factors that mediate the beneficial microbiome feedbacks on Arabidopsis growth and defence. Rational thinking, logic, commitment and talent >>> very good PhD; congratulations Katja!

Congratulations Dr. Charlotte!

Congratulations Dr. Charlotte!

18.09.2025
Charlotte Joller successfully defended her PhD thesis. To investigate the cry-for-help hypothesis, she developed a glass-bead based jar system allowing the dynamic analysis of root exudates and root bacterial community assembly. With this jar system, Dr. Jarlotte could show that plants with upregulated immunity secrete a specific cocktail of compounds to the surrounding media – yes, plants cry. The surprising finding was that commensal bacterial communities suppressed the immune-stimulated exudation cocktail – they make the plant to shut up. Coolness, commitment and talent > very good PhD; congratulations Charlotte!

Pic Rémi

Welcome Rémi

18.08.2025

Rémi Petrolli did his PhD at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. He worked on the (molecular) ecology of plant-fungal interactions. He will work as postdoctoral researcher on the new SNSF project “Deep soil ectomycorrhizal communities of beech forests” where we work on uncovering the hidden species diversity and functional properties of ectomycorrhizal communities in deep layers of forest soils. This collaborative project includes Ing. Sven Hopf, Dr. Simon Tresch and Dr. Sabine Braun from the Institute for Applied Plant Biology (Witterswil, Switzerland) and Prof. Björn Lindahl from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Uppsala, Sweden).

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