Projects

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On a spicy journey: In search of climate resilient vanilla production systems KU Leuven

Bart Muys
Forest, Nature and Landscape
Climate change is predicted to severely affect the agricultural sector, and diversification at both crop genetic and system level is vital in the development of climate resilient agro-systems. The tropical cash crop vanilla is facing a number of threats that are jeopardizing its future supply. Being an important crop for many smallholder farmers around the tropics and a highly appreciated spice used in a range of products, there is an urgent ...

Microfauna - microflora - plant interactions: extending the soil “microbial loop concept” of nitrogen mineralization Ghent University

Stefaan De Neve
Department of Environment

Soil nematodes are composed of multiple feeding groups, distinct energy channels and with strong

interactions with plant growth, but to date most studies focused on bacterivorous nematodes, largely

neglecting the contribution of herbivorous and fungivorous nematodes. We conducted mesocosm

experiments to investigate whether and how herbivorous and microbivorous microfauna, ...

Plant and Vegetation Ecology and Global Changes. University of Antwerp

Reinhart Ceulemans
Plant and Ecosystems (PLECO) - Ecology in a time of change
The overarching theme of the Centre of Excellence is the study of the effects of global changes, in the broadest meaning of the term, on plants and vegetations. This long-term goal is being realized a.o. by studying the responses of plants and vegetations to the, sometimes manipulated, abiotic environment over a continuum of hierarchical scales, ranging from the individual leaf to the continent. Original experimental research and long-term ...

Upstream regulators of the plant energy sensor SnRK1 KU Leuven

Filip Rolland
Department of Biology, Molecular Biotechnology of Plants and Micro-organisms

Plants arguably are the most crucial organisms to support life on Earth because of their conversion of electro-magnetic energy (sunlight) into chemical energy (energy-rich carbohydrates) by photosynthesis and the associated release of oxygen. In addition, they produce innumerable renewable food, feed, fiber and fuel products and resources for mankind. Unlike most other organisms, autotrophic plants have a sessile (rooted) lifestyle. It is ...

Microfauna - microflora - plant interactions: extending the soil U+201Cmicrobial loop conceptU+201D of nitrogen mineralization Ghent University

Stefaan De Neve
Department of Environment

It is assumed that an important part of N mineralization in soils is due to the activity of microfauna. The microbial loop concept at this moment includes only protists, but we will extend the concept to nematodes and will experimentally quantify the contribution of protists and nematodes (microfauna) to N mineralization in realistic conditions.

Phytostabilization of mine soils using native aromatic plant species suitable for promoting regional micro-economies. Hasselt University

Jaco VANGRONSVELD
Environmental Biology
The exploitation of mineral resources unavoidably pollutes soils and sediments with trace elements, which accumulate in the environment and affect human health and ecosystem services. Conventional remediation methods are expensive and detrimental for soil structure and fertility. Phytoremediation therefore comes into focus as a "green" alternative to stabilize, detoxify or remove pollutants from soil through a low cost and environmentally ...

Plants as intelligent sensors for precision agriculture Ghent University

Francis wyffels
Department of Electronics and information systems

Plants are complex non-linear dynamical systems that interact with their environment. I propose that this interaction can be modelled by means of physical reservoir computing. A framework will be designed that captures embodied plant intelligence using a limited set of sensors. This framework
will then be employed to perform greenhouse climate control, optimising crop growth conditions for precision agriculture.

Vaginal lactobacilli in the prevention of HSV-2 infection. KU Leuven

Jos Vanderleyden
Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics

Humans live in symbiosis with a tremendous number of bacteria, collectively referred to as the microbiota, that play a key role in several host physiological processes and health. While the gut microbiota has received plenty of attention the past decades, the vaginal microbiota is only recently gaining interest as a crucial player in female and reproductive health. The vaginal microbiota of most healthy women is generally dominated by ...

The secret garden: diatom adaptation and evolution in benthic environments Ghent University

Klaas Vandepoele, Steven Maere, Lieven De Veylder, Anne Willems, Wim Vyverman, Sven Mangelinckx
Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and microbiology, Department of Biology, Department of Green Chemistry and Technology

We aim to identify and functionally characterize key adaptations that drive the extraordinary species diversity and ecological success of benthic diatoms. We will employ a multi-disciplinary approach to study the role of climate-sensitive abiotic stressors and diatom-bacteria interactions on life cycle dynamics in existing and newly developed model species, as well as in natural populations.

The grain size of light penetration in forests and the evolution of timing Ghent University

Dries Bonte
Department of Biology

The scale of environmental heterogeneity relative to gene flow determines the U+201Cgrain sizeU+201D of the habitat and is hypothesised to drive the evolution of adaptive strategies. In fine grained environments, where spatial heterogeneity is large, the evolution of adaptive phenotypic plasticity is expected. However, under homogeneous conditions, so coarse grained environments, populations are expected to locally adapt to the prevailing ...