01/10/2014 You’ll find as much biodiversity in the soil of New York’s Central Park as in a tropical rainforest. That’s the surprising conclusion of research conducted by Dr. Kelly Ramirez, microbial ecologist at NIOO-KNAW in Wageningen. In fact, the same soil microbes that thrive in forests, tundras and deserts can be found living right beneath New York.

01/10/2014 De bodemdiversiteit in Central Park doet niet onder voor die van een tropisch regenwoud, volgens onderzoek onder leiding van Kelly Ramirez.

16/04/2021 Kay Moisan has won the 2020 Hugo de Vries Award, for her PhD thesis on odours released by soil fungi and their effects on plants.

16/04/2021 Kay Moisan heeft de Hugo de Vries Prijs 2020 gewonnen met haar proefschrift over geurstoffen van bodemschimmels en het effect ervan op planten.

16/10/2020 Plant roots not only release odours themselves, but also appear to react to odours released by beneficial and harmful fungi in the soil. In her PhD research at NIOO, Kay Moisan found that this 'sense of smell' has a positive effect on the eventual health of the plant.

16/10/2020 Wortels van planten scheiden niet alleen zelf geuren af, maar reageren ook op geuren die nuttige én schadelijke schimmels in de grond afscheiden.

12/03/2020 een consortium onder leiding van Jos Raaijmakers wil ontdekken hoe planten via hun wortels micro-organismen ‘rekruteren’ om gezond te blijven.

Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal in the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, many farmers rely on this grain for food and feed. But Striga, a parasitic weed, can have a devastating impact on crop yield. With an 8-million-dollar grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an international team will now explore the potential of soil microbes to offer crop protection. The Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) is coordinating this 5-year project.

Sorghum staat wereldwijd op nummer 5 van de belangrijkste graangewassen, en met name dankzij Afrika. Helaas is de sorghum-oogst van veel boeren daar erg onzeker door het schadelijke onkruid Striga. Met 8 miljoen dollar subsidie van de Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gaat een internationaal team nu onderzoeken hoe microscopisch klein bodemleven bescherming kan bieden. Het Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie (NIOO-KNAW) coördineert dit vijfjarige project.

If you’re small, smells are a good way to stand out. A team of researchers led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) has demonstrated for the first time that two different types of micro-organisms – bacteria and fungi – use fragrances, known as terpenes, to hold conversations. And that’s not all. “We actually believe that terpenes are the most popular chemical medium on our planet to communicate through.”