Our Science

The research being undertaken by ENSA aims to achieve a transformation in how crop plants acquire nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus.

ENSA's Science

The research being undertaken by the ENSA team aims to transform how crop plants acquire nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, achieving a radical shift away from the application of inorganic fertilisers to harness naturally occurring plant processes.

To achieve this, ENSA is focused on four key areas of scientific development: Nitrogen-fixation and bacterial infection, symbiosis signalling, mycorrhizal symbiosis, and nodulation.

Nitrogen Fixation and Bacterial Infection

Most plants rely on natural environmental processes, that replenish bioavailable nitrogen in the soil, for nutrition and growth. Plants, such as legumes, have evolved symbiotic interactions with nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria known as rhizobia. These interactions have the potential to fuel nitrogen metabolism in plants, by fixing gaseous nitrogen from the atmosphere, while consuming carbon supplied by the plants.

The ENSA team has focused its research in this area on transferring the beneficial association between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and legumes, to cereals and other crop plants. Engineering biological nitrogen fixation into species that currently do not have this ability, has the potential to make an important impact on the metabolism of these plant species and may sustainably enhance production for small-holder farmers.

Coordination of genetic and morphological responses by plants across time and space, is essential for intracellular bacterial infection, efficient nitrogen-fixation and metabolite exchange. ENSA is analysing the genetic mechanisms that allow intracellular bacterial infection of legume cells, to guide the engineering of this process in cereals, including the components specific to nitrogen-fixing symbiosis.

Nitrogen Fixation and Bacterial Infection

Experts in this area

Nikolaj Abel

Postdoctoral researcher

Aarhus University

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Stig Uggerhøj Andersen

Professor

Aarhus University

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Morgane Batzenschlager

Postdoctoral researcher

University of Freiburg

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Ronan Broad

Postdoctoral researcher

La Trobe University

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Pierre-Marc Delaux

Project leader

LRSV-CNRS (University of Toulouse, France)

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Federico Fornaguera

Tissue Culture Technician

Wageningen University & Research

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Manuel Frank

Postdoctoral researcher

Aarhus University

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Paul Fraser

Professor of Biochemistry

Royal Holloway University of London

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Jinpeng Gao

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Cambridge

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Euan James

Research Leader

The James Hutton Institute

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Rourou Ji

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Joshua Kaste

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Illinois

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Beatrice Lace

Postdoctoral researcher

University of Freiburg

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Stephen Long

Ikenberry Chair of Crops Sciences and of Plant Biology

University of Illinois

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Megan Matthews

Assistant Professor

University of Illinois

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Nils Nebel

PhD student

University of Freiburg

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Giles Oldroyd

Professor of Crop Sciences

University of Cambridge

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Thomas Ott

Professor

University of Freiburg

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Laura Perez-Fons

Research officer

Royal Holloway University of London

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Phillip Poole

Project leader

University of Oxford

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Jule Salfeld

PhD student

University of Freiburg

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Casandra Schenk

Postdoctoral researcher

University of Freiburg

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Sebastian Schornack

Principal Research Associate

University of Cambridge, Sainsbury Laboratory (SLCU)

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Jawahar Singh

Postdoctoral researcher

University of Cambridge

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Magdalini Tsitsikli

Postdoctoral researcher

Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg

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Tatiana Vernié

Post-doctural researcher

University of Toulouse

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Jesper Wulff

Laboratory Technician

Aarhus University

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Guofeng Zhang

PhD student

University of Freiburg

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Ji Zhou

Head of Data Sciences Department

NIAB

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Symbiosis Signalling

ENSA’s research into symbiotic signalling has focused on characterising the function of the components of the symbiosis signalling pathway in maize, barley and legumes. Key to the establishment of the symbiosis association is the specific perception of signalling molecules. Receptors activate the signalling pathway through recognition of chitooligosaccharides (COs) and lipochitooligosaccharides (LCOs). Research in ENSA identified motifs in LysM receptors that are important for distinct recognition of CO versus LCO enabling symbiosis signalling.

The ENSA team has made significant advances in its understanding of the signalling pathways in cereals through detailed genetic dissection in maize and barley. ENSA has also demonstrated how the symbiosis signalling pathway is necessary to drive diverse bacterial communities and is essential for the prevalence of bacteria known to be beneficial.

Experts in this area

Kasper Røjkjær Andersen

Professor

Aarhus University

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Stig Uggerhøj Andersen

Professor

Aarhus University

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Federico Fornaguera

Tissue Culture Technician

Wageningen University & Research

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Manuel Frank

Postdoctoral researcher

Aarhus University

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Jinpeng Gao

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Cambridge

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Kira Gysel

Member of academic staff

Aarhus University

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Jie-shun Lin

Assistant professor

Aarhus University

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Thi Bich Luu

Postdoctoral researcher

Aarhus University

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Simona Radutoiu

Project leader, Associate Professor

Aarhus University

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Henriette Rübsam

Postdoctoral researcher

Aarhus University

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Jens Stougaard

Professor, Project leader

Aarhus University

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Jongho Sun

Microscopy facility manager

University of Cambridge

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Thomas van der Maden

PhD student

Wageningen University & Research

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Tatiana Vernié

Post-doctural researcher

University of Toulouse

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Dr Emma Wallington

Crop Transformation Programme Leader

NIAB

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Jesper Wulff

Laboratory Technician

Aarhus University

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Mycorrhizal Symbiosis

To enable crops to utilize the full potential of the fixed nitrogen, ENSA scientists also need to address the ability of these crops to access phosphorus. The team aim to achieve this using the additional beneficial association with mycorrhizal fungi, which already exists in cereal crops.

Recent discoveries in ENSA have demonstrated that we can optimise the symbiotic association between crops and mycorrhizal fungi to maximise their utility in agriculture. This fungal association is particularly important in the acquisition of phosphate, but also facilitates the uptake of nitrates and water. Benefits generated from the mycorrhizal association can be additive with bacterial nitrogen fixation and can include protection from some pathogens.

Experts in this area

Doris Albinsky

Barley genetics & phenotyping manager

Crop Science Centre

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Edwin Jarratt Barnham

PhD student

Crop Science Centre

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Margit Drapal

Research Assistent

Royal Holloway University of London

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Sandra Senyo Fometu

Postdoctoral researcher

Pennsylvania State University

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Tessa Grainger

Research Laboratory Technician

Crop Science Centre

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Thomas Irving

Research associate

Crop Science Centre

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Joshua Kaste

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Illinois

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Anh Ngo

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Crop Science Centre

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Martina Orvosova

PhD student

Crop Science Centre

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Uta Paszkowski

Professor

Cambridge University, Crop Science Centre

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Ruairidh Sawers

Assistant Professor

Penn State University

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Emily Servanté

Postdoctoral researcher

Crop Science Centre

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Eirini Vlachaki

Research support

Crop Science Centre

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Dr Emma Wallington

Crop Transformation Programme Leader

NIAB

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Nodulation

Nodules harbour rhizobia bacterial infection and create the conditions needed for some plants to fix their own nitrogen. Previous research indicates that the inability of some species of plants to form nodules is due to the loss of a small set of genes. One of the most important gene of this set is NODULE INCEPTION; it connects symbiosis signals at the surface of the plant root to the root core, as well as coordinating nodule creation and regulating the functions needed for the establishment of nitrogen-fixation.

Plant species that have lost these genes should be amenable for repair of nitrogen-fixation. This would be a valuable stepping-stone for engineering nitrogen-fixation across all angiosperms, including legumes, cereals and other crops.

Currently the likelihood that a legume plant will form a nodule is closely linked to the amount of nitrogen in the soil. When there are high levels of nitrogen nodule formation is supressed. Importantly, ENSA research may also result in legume crops that no longer show suppression of nodulation due to the presence of nitrogen. Such legume crops could then be augmented with added nitrogen without losing biological nitrogen fixation. This would make legumes more effective at enhancing soil nitrogen fertility, by maximising biological nitrogen fixation, independent of the levels of nitrogen already present.