Stephanie Watts-Fawkes

A mobile DELLA controls Medicago truncatula root cortex patterning to host arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Cell division and specification are crucial for plant development and coping with diverse environmental cues. Most land plants rely on symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to cope with soil nutrient limitations by forming arbuscules in root inner cortex cells. What determines the AM susceptibility of these inner cortex cells is currently unknown. Here we show that DELLA transcriptional regulators control the number of inner cortex cells with an AM-susceptible identity at the root stem cell niche of Medicago truncatula in a dose-dependent manner. Genetic analyses suggest that this activity converges with the well-known mobile SHORT-ROOT transcription factor regulating ground tissue development. Furthermore, we show that MtDELLA1 protein moves from the stele/endodermis to the cortex in the mature part of the root to facilitate arbuscule formation. We propose that the formation of a root inner cortex cell identity controlled by mobile DELLA and SHORT-ROOT is a fundamental basis for AM symbiosis.

Beautiful work from Erik Limpens, Ton Bisseling and coll. in @natplants.nature.com. A must read! -> A mobile DELLA controls Medicago truncatula root cortex patterning to host arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi | Nature Plants

Rooting for function: community‐level fine‐root traits relate to many ecosystem functions Humans are driving biodiversity change, which also alters community functional traits. However, how changes in the functional traits of the community alter ecosystem functions—especially belowground...

📢 Hot off the press in New Phytologist!
A fresh study explores the link between root traits and ecosystem functions 🌱🌍, with our very own Thom Kuyper among the co-authors! 👏

🔗 Check it out :
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Oh noooooo 😩

A large brown building on the campus of Wageningen university

When will we see the sun again? 😶‍🌫️

Ship tracker map showing the location of the container in China with a predicted journey to Netherlands.

Today it's 120 days since we last saw our "stuff". Supposedly today was the latest date for it arrive to us in the Netherlands.

Our stuff is in... *checks tracker*... China. Awesome.

And it's going ALL the way around Africa to get to NL??

Taking donations for warm clothing now 🙃

Want to meet this awesome group of plant scientists?

Join us at ASPS 2025 in Adelaide, 24-27 November!

(Photo from ASPS 2023 conference in Hobart)

Register: bit.ly/4p25OJ0

#ASPS2025 #PlantScience #Adelaide

ICOM2026 – Call for Symposia Call for Symposia The Call for Symposia at ICOM2026 is open! Download Application Form below Deadline for submission: 15 October 2025 Decision: 1 November 2025 ICOM2026 will host a series of sympos…

TWO WEEKS TO GO!

The submission deadline for the Call for Symposia for #ICOM2026 is October 15th!

Form and submission deatils here:
icom2026.org/symposia/

🎉Come to the Wageningen Hotspot of the Weekend of Science on Sunday 5th Oct!✨

You will find a variety of activities from the Soil Museum, soil painting, measuring photosynthesis, genetics, games with roots & more...

Spread the word and see you there! Info: weekendvandewetenschap.nl/hotspots/hot...

Lithium in plants: Summary.

Lithium in plants

📖 buff.ly/YFP0LxE
#TansleyReview by Sebastian Garcia-Daga, Sina Fischer and Matthew Gilliham

@plants4space.bsky.social @ionplants.bsky.social
Figure created in BioRender (buff.ly/3dnJ39o).

The best time of day!

Sunrise over a building on Wageningen University campus

Vroege vogel perks 🐦
@w-u-r.bsky.social

Understanding the root angle and its impact on plant performance requires the integration of different perspectives and expertise from different fields.

Mineral acquisition from a different angle – how the #root angle in cereals determines #NutrientUptake

A #ResearchReview by van der Bom et al.
👇

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#LatestIssue #PlantScience

See you soon! Safe travels.

•📢 🪱 🎉Abstract submissions are now OPEN for the upcoming 13th International Symposium on Earthworm Ecology (ISEE13) — hosted in Wageningen, from August 23–28, 2026!
➡️https://event.wur.nl/isee13/author

•🔗🪱🌍 Discover the speaker lineup and our initial program: ➡️ event.wur.nl/isee13/new-p...

So beautiful. I miss NE Victoria so much 😭

Good luck!

Schematic representation of plant–microbe interactions and microbial metabolism that influence root development and nutrient uptake.

#TansleyReview: Microbial drivers of root plasticity

Dini-Andreote, et al.

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#LatestIssue #PlantScience

Fig. 7 (shortened, full legend in paper): Intraspecific variation in key root functional traits involved in P acquisition between low-phosphorus efficiency (LPE) and high-phosphorus efficiency (HPE) genotypes of alfalfa in response to low soil phosphorus (P) availability. The blue upward arrow indicates P uptake from low P soil, while the black downward arrow signifies carbon (C) transport into root functional traits associated with P acquisition. The mean values for each trait are shown. If there are significant differences between LEP and HEP genotypes, the higher values are emphasized in bold and marked with asterisks: *P≤0.05, ***P≤0.001.

🌿 RESEARCH 🌿

Alfalfa genotypes with thick roots, increased exudate concentration, and mycorrhizal colonization under low P environments have high P utilization efficiency, opening up the potential for breeding for P-efficient lines - Fan et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪

A family of a dad and two young kids standing around a tardigrade statue outside a church.

I love tardigrade statues around and ON Eusebius in Arnhem 😍

All scrolls were consumed 💁🏻‍♀️

A baking tray full of savoury scrolls

Workplace potluck dinner calls for us to bring a special dish from our home country. Well… Australia has no dishes of its own.

So here we go - Vegemite scrolls 😛

I will deliver the verdict in 24 hours’ time.

ICOM2026 – Call for Symposia Call for Symposia The Call for Symposia at ICOM2026 is open! Download Application Form below Deadline for submission: 15 October 2025 Decision: 1 November 2025 ICOM2026 will host a series of sympos…

The call for #ICOM2026 Symposia applications is now open until October 15.

Please see:
icom2026.org/symposia/

Woman with a baby in a chest carrier standing in front of a canal.

A few days in Bruges was just the thing! 🇧🇪

Seven years later: native AMF inoculation improves grassland successional stage, floristic quality index, and diversity, while suppressing weeds Native mycorrhizal fungi enhance prairie restoration by boosting native plant diversity, supporting late-successional species, and reducing invasive plants

My new paper is out! 🧪🦠

Seven years later: native AMF inoculation improves grassland restoration successional stage, floristic quality index, and diversity, while suppressing weeds: academic.oup.com/femsle/artic...

Why microbes matter in restoration 🧵

The theme for #ICOM2026 is: “Mycorrhizas in a changing world: challenges, opportunities and solutions"

Congratulations!!

Congratulations!

PowerPoint slide depicting upcoming conferences in Melbourne and Nanjing.

The International Plant Nutrition Colloquium is in my hometown #Melbourne in 2028! How exciting! 🥳

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculation increases the bioavailability of zinc and iron in wheat grain Bread wheat is an important crop that supplies calories and nutrients to the global population. Enhancing the concentrations and bioavailability of essential micronutrients in wheat is crucial for hu...

Yesterday, our new paper came out, with PhD student Diem Nguyen as first author in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social

We found that mycorrhizal fungi can enhance Zn and Fe bioavailability in Australian wheat varieties; we used Synchrotron XFM to look in the aleurone layer:
doi.org/10.1002/ppp3...

Prof Alex Johnson on stage in a conference hall, about to give a talk at the international plant nutrition colloquium.

It’s always so good to see Alex Johnson giving a talk - whether it’s in Adelaide or in Porto!

His work on novel micronutrient biofortification strategies in cereals is so exciting, and he’s a great mentor and collaborator ☺️