PLANT NUTRITION TRUST REPORT

by

Wenli Ding

University of Western Australia

It was really an honour to be awarded the Plant Nutrition Trust Award. I attended the International Plant Nutrition Colloquium from 21^st to 24^th August 2017 in Copenhagen. I have to say, this was really a professionally rewarding experience.

As an international conference, there were lots of interesting talks, especially those from the keynote speakers. The speakers not only informed us of what has been studied in the research areas, but also speculated about new developments for the future. I gained new insights into research experimentation, which can be hard to obtain through reading papers. For example, how to use X-ray fluorescence microscopy to get the plant nutrient distribution in plant tissues. As a young researcher, this was really an eye-opening opportunity for me.

The conference was definitely a great chance to socialise with researchers from all over the world. I tried to introduce myself to some professors after their talks or during the conference breaks. We discussed their research and outlined connections to my own research investigations. This provide me with ideas to help advance my own research. In particular, one professor showed genunine interest in offering me a postdoc position. Attending academic conferences is a great way for young researches to build academic connections and invaluable experience.

Most importantly, I presented a poster at this conference, and gave a 3-min talk in the speaking corner about what I discovered and what I propose to do in the future. Even though it is not the same as giving a seminar in the big hall, I did advance my speaking skills and answering people’s questions was a good challenge.  I also learned more about my own research through explaining areas of my research that were confusing to others and listening to their invaluable suggestions.

In summary, I acquired genuine new knowledge related to my research area and developed new relationships with key professors in the area of plant nutrition. I have also learned how to explain myself and convince others of my research ideas and findings. These experiences were most definitely helpful in advancing my own research career. Finally, I want to say thank the Plant Nutrition Trust committee, for giving me the chance to use the funds and attend such an amazing conference.

Contact: Wenli Ding

PLANT NUTRITION TRUST REPORT

by

Feifei Wang

School of Land and Food, University of Tasmania

I am honored to receive Plant Nutrition funding support to attend the 19^th International Botanical Congress (IBC) in China. The conference was hold in Shenzhen during July 23^rdto 29^th, 2017, under the auspices of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), through the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS) of the IUBS. Many world’s top experts present their exciting new findings in major plenary sessions and in a wide array of symposia. During the conference, I made one oral presentation named “Oxygen sensing in plant roots linked with ion channel operation: Revealing the roles of calcium transporters in response to hypoxia and salinity in Arabidopsis” in “Calcium transport and signaling” symposium on Friday, 28^thJuly. After my presentation, many questions were asked about the possibility and potential role of TPC1 channel as oxygen sensor in plant. We also talked about the TPC1 function under combined hypoxia and salinity stress. One conference paper was published on line after this conference, and I also gained some new knowledge and skills through this conference.

Finally, thanks for giving me this chance to the conference. I really appreciate that. It indeed improved my research ability and profiled my research project. Thanks again.

Contact: Feifei Wang

PLANT NUTRITION TRUST REPORT

by

David Minemba

University of Western Australia

Introduction

As recipient of The Plant Nutrition Trust Award, I visited LSU AgCenter and its Sweet Potato Research Station in Chase, Manroe. It also coincided with the Annual International Meeting of America Society of Agronomy, America Society of Soil Science and Crop Science Society of America and I attended as a member at Tampa Convention Centre, Florida.

LSU AgCenter, Sweet Potato Research Station conducts pioneering research on role of phosphorus on sweet potato root structure and architecture. This work compliments my PhD research project aimed at understanding root rhizosphere properties of sweet potato in low Phosphate soils.  I also attended the meeting in Tampa purposely to meet and network with other international researchers who are involved in related studies to my PhD research project. I met many graduate students working on fields related to root rhizosphere as well as functions of microbial community that exists in the soil.

This report highlight activities and contact made with other researchers on this trip.

Sweet Potato Research Station in Chase, Monroe

The LSU AgCenter Sweet Potato Research Station in Chase is devoted mainly to sweet potato research and development in the United States of America. Its mission is to produce and supply high quality seed stock to commercial sweet potato growers and conduct research in various disciplines to support the industry in the country. Some of the commercial sweet potato varieties used around the world, including Beauregard were developed from LSU AgCenter.

Research into understanding the root system architecture and role of external soil nutrients on root development and storage root formation of sweet potato conducted at AgCenter is at very advanced stages. Variability in storage root yield of sweet potato is quite common in every country that grow sweet potato and remains a challenge. Understanding the root rhizosphere properties could potentially explain this variability and is the focus of my PhD research project. The pioneering work on sweet potato root system architecture at LSU AgCenter by Prof Villordon compliments research interest and was the main basis of many productive interaction during my visit.

LSU, AgCentre

The AgCenter at Louisiana State University hosts a wide range of disciplines in agriculture. One is the plant pathology section. I had the opportunity to spend some time with Dr Chris Clark, a plant pathologist involved mostly in sweet potato pathogens. Dr Clark has many year of experience and has documented most sweet potato pathogens known in the USA and elsewhere. I also had useful conversations with Mrs Mary Hoy, a tissue culture specialist who manages supply of tissue cultured plantlets to the clean seed supply system.

Dr Clark and I had conversations on the potential role of root exudates and its interactions with microbial community in the soil and its effect on soil borne pathogens of sweet potato. My study on measuring the root exudates and the microbial community could potentially contribute to understanding the effects of microbial agents on soil borne pathogens of sweet potato.

The Conference in Tampa, Florida

The American Society of Agronomy, crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America had their 2017 Annual International Meeting with the theme “Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future” in Tampa, Florida. I attended that meeting as recommended by Prof Arthur Villordon, who is my co supervisor, as it is a good opportunity to meet and network with scientist and resource people around the world.

Perceived benefits from my travel and visitations

Confirming the knowledge gap and building confidence

The discussion I had with Dr Villordon, who published widely on topics related to the role of phosphorus on sweet potato root system and architecture, indicated that my research on understanding the rhizosphere properties of sweet potato will certainly add value to knowledge gap needed to resolved persistent variability in storage root yield of sweet potato known to exist in many countries. This also gave the confidence that my work has relevance and a source of inspiration to complete well my remaining experiments and successfully complete my PhD study.

Identified potential collaborations

My visit to LSU AgCenter also stimulated discussions on collaboration work as an extension to my PhD research project. Dr Villordon has offered to provide his expertise as best as he could from his experience elsewhere on projects similar to the proposed collaborations.

I also had cross discipline discussions with Dr Chris Clark, a sweet potato disease specialist. He has an opinion that the root exudates and microbial community in the root rhizosphere could potentially suppress effects of soil borne pathogens of sweet potato. My next experiment has an object to unveil the microbiome in the root rhizosphere of sweet potato cultivars at different P rates. Hope a potential candidate microbial agent be identified from this work and hopefully that could further developed into a collaborative partnership.

Improved on a research technique

I had issues in establishing a good Phosphate response curve in my experimentation. I can now improve on that from tips I learned from Dr Villordon. He demonstrated that very contrasting P response can be achieved by establishing sweet potato from zero P medium to drain out the P reserves in the stem cutting and shoots before transplanting in trials pots. This will greatly assist in developing very contrasting response difference needed for my next experiment.

Collection of relevant literature and publications

Dr Villordon had a more updated collection of literature on sweet potato research in the world. He provided me the copy and that will greatly add value to improving my literature review section of my thesis.

I made good contact with resource people

At the Annual International Meeting in Tampa, I made a good number of contacts with graduate researchers and specialist in areas related to my research work. We exchanged contact information and I look forward to make contact with them during the cause of my study and beyond.

Acknowledgements

This productive trip would not have been possible without the funding support from Plant Nutrition Trust Award and I am grateful to Dr Peter Ryan and his team for this funding opportunity. I also acknowledge the support from UWA Graduate Research School.

My supervisors Associate Prof. Megan Ryan and Prof. Arthur Villordon have not only suggested for me to take trip but have given me all the support needed to make this trip to the United States very successful. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was truly a fulfilling experience in my PhD journey. I had pleasant interactions with Dr Chris Clark and Mrs Mary Hoy at LSU AgCenter. They allowed me to appreciate sweet potato disease in relation my research focus and also gave me the opportunity to visit LSU Rural Life Museum. Finally, the hospitability I got from Ms Susan Karimiha at Baton Rouge and Prof Arthur and family at Manroe were second to none for which I am very thankful.

Contact: David Minemba

PLANT NUTRITION TRUST REPORT

by

Cui Li

I am honoured to be one of the recipients of The 2017 Plant Nutrition Trust Award, granted by Australian Society of Plant Scientists. Thanks to this generous support, I attended my very first International Plant Nutrition Colloquium (IPNC), combined with Boron and Manganese satellite meetings, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 19 to 24 August 2017.

I am a third year PhD student from School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane. My study area is on the absorption and translocation of foliar-applied nutrient fertilizers. The IPNC was the best conference that I have attended. Not only because the topic of the conference suited my study area, but also because it inspired through high quality of seminars and and poster presentations. This was especially true for the keynote presentations, which were given by world-leading scientists within the field.

The main theme of the 18th IPNC was: “Plant Nutrition for Global Green Growth”. Indeed, the conference involved presentations on macronutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium, and micronutrients such as zinc, manganese, and boron. Furthermore, a range of plant species were considered, from arabidopsis and rapeseed to wheat and rice, with the focus of the research also being diverse, from nutrient transporters to next generation fertilisers. For example, I particularly enjoyed the keynote presentation given by Marta Vasconcelos titled “Impact of climate change on plant nutrition” which illustrated the effects of increasing atmospheric CO₂ on crop growth and nutrient status. This presentation encouraged me to think of the study of plant nutrition at a more interdisciplinary level – not only should we study the relationship between plants and nutrients, but also we should consider the effects of other factors on plant nutrition such as the changing climate, the succession of nutrients in soil agriculture system, and the increasing human population as well as decreasing land area. I also enjoyed the presentation by Jianfeng Ma titled “Molecular mechanisms for distribution of mineral elements in plants” which was inspiring in that it clearly explained how nutrients are allocated and transported within plants, giving consideration to symptoms we can see using our naked eye to the underlying physiology and molecular mechanisms. I also benefited a lot from the keynote presentations by Peter Kopittke and Søren Husted which shared new analytical methods and techniques can be used in the field of plant nutrition with clear examples.

On the 22^nd August, I gave an oral presentation about my PhD research, entitled “Understanding how foliar-applied Zn fertilizer moves across the leaf surface in sunflower and soybean”. A particular focus of my presentation was describing a novel role for trichomes in the absorption of foliar-applied nutrients. My research drew the attention of Victoria Fernandez who is a well-known scientist in the field of foliar fertilisation and who also a keynote speaker at the IPNC. We had a lengthy discussion with interest, and she insightful suggestions. Most importantly, she expressed her interest to collaborate in the future, with this being an important achievement for me at this conference. There were also others who presented their work within the topic of foliar fertilisation. These presentations provided an overview of the current studies and showed that the mechanisms of foliar nutrients absorption and translocation are still not fully understood. It is also interesting that it was found that foliar fertilisation is often not helpful for plants that are already severely nutrient stressed, thus it is important to develop methods that can recognise plant nutrients deficiency at the early stages. The photo shows Victoria Fernandez (right side) and myself.

I truly appreciated the generosity and support of the Plant Nutrition Trust Travel Awards. I have gained knowledge, expanded my horizons, and met face-to-face with researchers from all over the world in the field of plant nutrition. Moreover, it has firmed my determination to continue as a researcher within the field of plant nutrition!

Contact: Cui Li

PLANT NUTRITION TRUST REPORT

by

Olivia Cousins

Attending the IPG Root Biology Symposium in Missouri was a highlight of my year. I presented a poster, summarised the findings from my first big experiment, focusing on root responses to variable water and nitrogen supply. Being at my first root-specific conference was very exciting. Not only did I learn more about current research subject area, but I made connections with people from across the globe. Many of these people work on projects looking at ways to improve crop health and yield by tailoring root architecture.

With four main themes at the conference – development, rhizosphere interactions, phenotyping and technology, and adaptations to abiotic stress – it was important that the speakers delivered their message effectively. The common factor of my favourite speakers was their ability to draw in the audience not only with new information but by their delivery. Prof Andrea Carminati from Goerg-August-Universität Göttingen presented his research on soil physics and root water uptake very passionately and humorously. He explained that in maize water uptake is hugely driven by the crown roots; to do this he used cartoon drawings of himself. Certainly original, but the message came across very clearly! Ross Sozani (North Carolina State University) is also another passionate speaker, working on understanding stem cells in Arabidopsis thalianaroots. She quoted that “mixing biology, computational biology and engineering is like a fun tennis match”. Science can be unexpected.

I went to the conference thinking that X-ray Computed Tomography was the only 3D phenotyping technology available, but after listening to Dr Chris Topp (Donald Danforth Plant Science Center) I now understand better the different ways for capturing phenotypic variation in root systems, both 3D and 2D  imaging and modelling. He, along with Prof Michelle Watt (Forschungszentrum Jülich) emphasised that phenotyping roots is a necessity for understanding root-shoot dynamics. The knowledge they shared is something I would like to implement in my own research, perhaps to investigate the effectiveness of these technologies in understanding water-nitrogen interactions in wheat growth.

Another hotly discussed subject was the lack of communication between soil scientists and plant scientists, with many researchers reiterating that collaborations are only made possible through communication. It is also well-known that plant scientists and soil scientists don’t always understand each others areas of expertise. I believe it is critical for each party to work together in order to understand the effect of physical, chemical and environmental processes on plant growth.

The conference certainly delivered in academic content, but it also ensured that we scientists had time to socialise. The opening reception was a great place to make new acquaintances and consolidate old ones. I arrived not knowing anyone, but I discovered I was not the only one from the University of Adelaide, so it gave me the opportunity to strengthen contacts within my own campus, some of whom work in similar areas.  IPG did a fantastic job at providing meals and receptions, also catering for a student/postdoc/speaker dinner; I really enjoyed getting to know some of the other students, talking to them about their research and experiences as a postgraduate.

The opportunity to attend the IPG Root Biology Symposium came at the perfect time. Networking with scientists of all ages and background has reignited my passion for research and understanding the complex nature of our environment. It has helped me to realise that the joys and tribulations of science are shared by multiple people across the globe. We are not alone in facing the known and unknown. We are a community.

Contact: olivia.cousins@adelaide.edu.au

PLANT NUTRITION TRUST REPORT

by

Chandnee Ramkissoon

My name is Chandnee Ramkissoon and I am a 2^ndyear PhD student in soil sciences at the University of Adelaide. I am currently working on a selenium biofortification project, which looks at the optimisation of commercial fertiliser formulations to improve selenium levels in wheat. Last year, I was lucky enough to have been awarded a travel grant from the Plant Nutrition Trust, to attend the 5^thInternational Conference on Selenium in the Environment and Human Health, held in August at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

The conference was officially composed of two serial symposia; for the first time held in parallel at the same site and having overlapping plenary sessions, poster sessions and social events. The two symposia were The 11^th International Symposium on Selenium in Biology and Medicine and the 5^thInternational Conference on Selenium in the Environment and Human Health. I was one among 330 delegates from 41 countries to attend this conference and it was one of the most rewarding experiences ever.

With my current research interest in mind, I opted to attend most lectures about selenium biofortification studies from researchers from all around the world, while sneaking to a few of the most fascinating inter-disciplinary ones running in parallel sessions. Before attending the conference, I was looking forward to meet a few researchers whose work have inspired me personally. For example, some excellent work about selenium biofortification has been ongoing in Malawi since the 2000’s to help residents overcome or prevent selenium deficiency in an affordable manner. Dr Chilimba and Dr Martin Broadley, pioneers of such projects, passionately explained their journey to making such agronomic practices a reality in Malawi and briefly touched on what the next steps to ensure continuity would be. Those lectures, coupled with subsequent Q&A sessions were highly insightful. I was also very pleased to be given the chance to showcase my work in the form of a poster during the poster sessions over the 3 days at the conference. This gave me the opportunity to be critically appraised for my work and be given advice for follow-up steps. This whole experience was therefore very motivating and certainly very rewarding.

The networking and social activities were an important aspect of the conference as well. On the last day of the conference, all delegates were invited to attend a scrumptious reception at the Stockholm City Hall, which is incidentally the venue of the Nobel Prize ceremony every year. It was therefore an absolute honour to be amongst such an elite crowd at such an impressive venue and be addressed by the Mayor of Stockholm on that day. She highlighted how the collective work of scientists and policy makers around the world are helping to address world challenges sustainably and it was a moment of pride to be standing there at that time then. My personal favourite social activity during that trip remains an outing to the Berzelius Laboratory, found on a small nearby island to Stockholm. That laboratory was in fact the exact same location where selenium was accidentally’ discovered by Berzelius, famous Swedish chemist, about 200 years ago! The whole trip on that day ended with a fabulous cruise dinner while we made our way back to Stockholm.

Overall, this conference was overwhelmingly enriching in a sense that I came back more inspired than I have ever been to maintain my research into selenium biofortification and expand upon a bigger picture regarding its impact on the scientific community and greater world. I sincerely thank the Plant Nutrition Trust for giving me the financial opportunity to attend my first international conference in Stockholm to celebrate the 200 years of Selenium discovery.

Contract: chandnee.ramkissoon@adelaide.edu.au

Submitted by: Arjun Pandey

PhD Candidate , School of Agriculture and Food 

The University of Melbourne

1. Tri-society conference in Tampa, Florida

The American tri-society conference, “Managing Global Resources For A Secure Future”, jointly organised by Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America was held in Tampa in Florida, USA, from 22-25 October 2017. Around 4000 scientists from around the world attended the conference.

I gave an oral presentation titled, Microbially mediated nitrogen loss and retention pathways in Australian rice paddies. The 15 minutes oral presentation was based on my experimental work during my PhD candidature. The presentation included my findings on the nitrogen loss and retention pathways in Australian rice paddies. Presenting my work in front of experienced scientists from around the world wasa unique experience for me. I also got some important questions and feedback during the discussion session after my presentation which helped me to think about my research findings in a broader perspective. 

I met several scientists from around the world those who are working in my field of research. This provided me with the opportunity to build networks and to know the research activities being carried out in other research institutions. Lastly, I attended presentations from several scientist during the conference. This gave me an opportunity to learn about novel findings in the soil and crop sciences.

2. Visit to the Virginia Institute of Marine science (VIMS), Virginia, USA 

I visited Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS; see photo) and stayed in the institute for two days during 19-20 October. Scientists in the VIMS are mainly focused on costal and estuarine sciences and also in grassland ecosystems. There are experts working in nitrogen (N) transformation in anaerobic soils and sediments using 15N isotopic tracing technique in the institution. I visited the institute to meet Associate Professor Bongkeun Song and his research team who are studying N transformation using 15N isotope tracing technique. This is one of the techniques I have been using in my PhD research work.

I had an excellent meeting with Associate professor Bongkeun Song, whom is working on nitrogen transformation pathways in various ecosystems including agroecosystem. He is an expert on using 15N tracer to quantify nitrogen transformation pathways. I was in contact with Bongkeun for the last two years through emails and I had frequent discussion on my research methodology with him. I met with Bongkeun Song on the 20th of October, 2017. We had a discussion on my research, in particular on the research methodology and outcome of my experiments. I got some valuable inputs from him on my research work. A/Professor Bongkeun took me around his laboratory and explained on the use of some recent Isotopic Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) instruments and their use in our research. We also discussed about possible collaboration in the future. I also met with few other researchers in the VIMS that are working in my research area. We had a discussion on the methods and instrumental application in our search. 

Acknowledgements: The financial support from the Plant Nutrition Trust Award provided me with a great oppurtunity to attend one of the most important confreneces in the area of soil and crop sciences. I would like to sincerely thank the trust.

Contact: arjunp@student.unimelb.edu.au

Special Issue “The Regulatory Functions of Epigenetic Mechanisms in Plants”

Journal Link

Guest Editor:  Dr. Chris Cazzonelli

AgEd Symposium brings together the academic community in agriculture and related disciplines at Australian tertiary and VET institutions.

Themes include developing curriculum to meet industry needs, work integrated learning, entrepreneurship skills, inquiry-oriented approaches for interdisciplinary learning, online & flipped learning.

Ag Ed A4 flyer

Keynote speakers include:

Professor Beverley Oliver (Deakin, Assuring Graduate Outcomes)

Professor Morgan Miles (CSU, Developing Entrepreneurship Skills)

Dr Peter Sale (LTU, Flipping First Year)

To register and submit abstracts please visit:

https://agwine.adelaide.edu.au/ag-ed-symposium/registration/

BY JONATHON PLETT

2017 GOLDACRE MEDAL WINNER

Growing up in the countryside of Ontario, Canada, Jonathan Plett was exposed to plants and planted environments from a very early age.  While a love for agriculture and ‘useful’ plants would come to fruition in his research career, Jonathan’s first induction into the world of plants was through flower gardening – a hobby introduced to him at the age of 10 by an English couple active within the local gardening club.  Over the years of working with plants, Jonathan became fascinated by the mechanics of how plants grew and flourished and how different environmental conditions affected these processes.

As early as the age of 12 Jonathan knew that he wanted to have a job working with plants in some form – his first science fair project was testing hydroponic systems for optimal plant growth.  Through his undergraduate work in college, this interest was further strengthened and led to a PhD in plant molecular biology.  This area of science has continued to fuel his imagination and to fascinate him to this day.  Jonathan did his PhD studies with Dr. Sharon Regan at Queen’s University in Canada where he studied the biological function of the plant hormone ethylene.  One aspect of this hormone was its huge role in plant:microbe interactions.  This led to a career shift in his post doctoral work and to his current position as a Lecturer in the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University where he considers the molecular mechanics of how plants interact with soil-borne microbes.

The goal of Jonathan’s research is to foster the relationship between symbiotic soil-borne micro-organisms and plants. These organisms increase plant productivity through improved nutrient availability and plant disease resistance. As intensified agricultural and forestry production is resulting in soils with reduced nutritional value and as plant diseases are becoming more virulent, growers and foresters are becoming more reliant on these symbiotic relationships to support the health and productivity of their plants.  Therefore, we need to select plants that will be able to gain the most from relationships with symbiotic micro-organisms. Currently we only have a rudimentary idea of the plant genetics that enable these symbiotic relationships to occur, let alone how we could select plants that foster these symbiotic relationships.  Jonathan’s research is addressing this critical lack of knowledge by studying the plant pathways targeted by symbiotic ‘effector’ proteins during the initial stages of the interaction between plants and micro-organisms.  Jonathan’s research has shown that these effectors, which are small-secreted microbial proteins, are used by mycorrhizal fungi to manipulate the plant immune response, thereby fostering symbiosis.  This means that the tactics used by mycorrhizal fungi to gain access to their host tissues mirror those of pathogenic organisms, with the production of proteins used to overcome host defences (Plett et al., 2014a). Thus, in response, the plant has evolved mechanisms to defend itself from excessive ingrowth of mycorrhizal hyphae, while still enjoying the beneficial aspects of the relationship.

Jonathan’s work has shown that the plant uses two classic plant hormone pathways: jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene, to limit fungal growth within plant tissues (Plett et al., 2014b).  His work in the metabolic regulation during mycorrhizal colonization of plants has also shown that plants produce toxic secondary compounds to slow fungal growth and that only certain mycorrhizal fungi are able to overcome these defences by either metabolising the defence compound (Tschaplinski et al., 2014) or by inducing the expression of proteases and xenobiotic efflux pumps to weather the onslaught raised by the plant (Plett et al., 2015).  Altogether, the results of Jonathan’s work have led to a paradigm shift in how we understand the core relationship between plants and their associated mycorrhizal fungi. His data are now being used to screen new tree and, more recently, crop lines (Plett et al., 2016), to find the ‘sweet spot’ in immune defence that enables plants to maximise the benefits from mycorrhizal fungi without compromising disease resistance. The application of these findings will result in more productive tree plantations and better food security in crops.

Contact Information:

Email: j.plett@westernsydney.edu.au

Twitter: @FungiDownUnder

Website: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/hie/people/researchers/doctor_jonathan_plett

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Pg1MvmEAAAAJ&hl=en

Key References:

Plett JM, Daguerre Y, Wittulsky S, Deveau A, Melton SJ, Kohler A, Morrell-Falvey J, Brun A, Veneault-Fourrey C, Martin F. (2014a) The effector protein MiSSP7 of the mutualistic ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolorinteracts with PopulusJAZ proteins.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA. 111:8299-8304.

Plett JM, Khachane A, Ouassou M, Sundberg B, Kohler A, Martin F. (2014b)  Ethylene and jasmonic acid act as negative modulators during mutualistic symbiosis between Laccaria bicolor and Populus roots.  New Phytologist 202:270-286.

Plett JM, Tisserant E, Brun A, Morin E, Grigoriev IV, Kuo A, Martin F, Kohler A.  (2015)  The mutualist Laccaria bicolor expresses a core gene regulon during the colonization of diverse host plants and a variable regulon to counteract host-specific defenses. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions28:261-73.

Plett JM, Plett KL, Bithell SL, Mitchell C, Moore K, Powell JR, Anderson IC. (2016) Improved Phytophthoraresistance in commercial chickpea (Cicer arietinum) varieties negatively impacts symbiotic gene signaling and symbiotic potential in some varieties. Plant, Cell & Environment.39:1858–186.

Tschaplinski TJ, Plett JM, Engle NL, Deveau A, Cushman KC, Martin MZ, Doktycz MJ, Tuskan GA, Brun A, Kohler A, Martin F. (2014) Populus trichocarpa and Populus deltoidesexhibit different metabolomic responses to colonization by the symbiotic fungus Laccaria bicolor. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions27:546-556.