Through association with beneficial bacteria and fungi, plants can express increased growth via improved nutrient uptake, disease resistance, and abiotic stress tolerance.

This project is a component of the EpiDiverse MSCA-ITN European training network. In long-lived sessile organisms such as trees, phenotypic plasticity is an important requirement for successful persistence in changing or variable environments. Epigenetic mechanisms have the potential to mediate long-term plastic responses to environmental change. However, the importance of epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation as regulators of adaptive plasticity is not well known.

This project is a component of the EpiDiverse MSCA-ITN European training network. DNA methylation variants can arise spontaneously, they can be under genetic control or they can be induced by environments. In plants, some DNA methylation variants are stable across many generations whereas other variants are very transient. A good understanding of the transgenerational dynamics of DNA methylation variants is essential to understand their impact on heritable traits and their effect on adaptation.

Linking Ecology, Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics in plant epigenetic research

Genome segmentation, the division of the hereditary material into multiple physical units, is widespread across all domains of life. Although many viruses also have segmented genomes, some viruses go a step further and package each segment into a different virus particle.

MITAR: Microbiome Invasion and Transmission of plasmid-mediated Antimicrobial Resistance

KNAW funded research on the role of biointeractions in causing fungal virulence in asparagus.

Plant virus genomes are highly diverse and can evolve rapidly, as highlighted by recent metagenomics advances. However, most research on plant viruses focuses on agricultural systems, and we therefore know little about virus diversity and evolution in natural ecosystems.