Research

Harnessing Microbiomes for Climate Resilience: Exploring Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions

As our planet's climate continues to change, finding innovative approaches to mitigate its impacts is crucial. We investigate whether and how synthetic microbiomes can be assembled to support host species in coping with the effects of climate change. We explore new theories about host-microbe interactions, focusing particularly on functional redundancy and its influence on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions. 

Current Research Directions

• Exploring Functional Redundancy: Investigating how functional redundancy within microbial communities can be harnessed to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change.

• Designing Synthetic Microbiomes: Developing and utilizing high-throughput experimental platforms to test various synthetic microbiome combinations, aiming to identify those that best support plant growth and ecosystem stability.

Exploring the impacts of environmental stress on symbiosis

Increasing human activities are continuously introducing new environmental challenges to our ecosystems, altering species interactions and ecosystem functions. Understanding these novel environmental changes is crucial for maintaining ecosystem health and managing future impacts. Our research explores how environmental stressors affect microbial communities and the relationship between microbes and their hosts.

Current Research Directions

We utilize a range of novel environmental pollutants—such as engineered nanomaterials, micro- and nanoplastics, and new flame retardants—to study their effects on microbial communities. Our research involves:

• Assessing Pollutant Prevalence: Investigating how these pollutants are distributed in urban freshwater ecosystems, focusing on their sources, concentrations, and impacts on environmental health.

• Studying Microbiome Assembly: Analyzing how pollutants alter the composition and structure of microbial communities, examining shifts in microbial diversity, community structure, and functional roles.

• Evaluating Indirect Effects: Exploring how pollutants influence microbiome functions through indirect pathways, such as changes in host density and traits.

Leveraging the automated plant phenotyping tools for plant-microbiome symbiosis research

Microbiomes are complex communities containing numerous species, each with the potential to impact host organisms in various ways. We focus on understanding how manipulating microbiomes can enhance the productivity and health of duckweed. 

By leveraging cutting-edge automated tools and high-throughput techniques, we aim to discover optimal microbiome combinations for improving plant growth and ecosystem functions.

Current Research Directions

• Isolating and Screening Microbiome Isolates: Collecting a large number of bacteria associated with duckweed and evaluating their effects on plant growth and health.

• Building Automated Phenotyping Tools: Developing and implementing high-throughput tools such as pipetting robots and automated imaging systems to streamline the screening process and capture detailed plant growth data.

• Constructing and Testing Synthetic Microbiomes: Designing synthetic microbiomes to explore the effects of bacterial species diversity, functional diversity, and functional identity on duckweed growth and ecosystem functions.