Events and seminars

Abstract: Legumes house nitrogen-fixing endosymbiotic rhizobia in root nodules that are factories of metabolic activity, shaped by the plant, bacteria and environment. Our recent work has approached each of these components to understand how nodulation efficiency is shaped and controlled. We found that symbiotic state and also efficiency can shape endosphere composition and plant nutrition, and have implicated small peptides in plant control. We identified endosphere-located microbes whose abundance is associated with more efficient symbiosis and are characterising their effects. The efficiency of symbiosis is also affected by the plant circadian clock via LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY) activity. Rhythmic LHY-regulated transcripts in root nodules include a subset of Nodule-specific Cysteine Rich peptides that may coordinate bacterial activity and the bacterial clock with the rhythms of the plant host to ensure optimal symbiosis. 

Bio: Prof Miriam Gifford’s interests are in studying complex networks involved in plant responses to the environment and plasticity. After a BSc in Plant Sciences at the University of Edinburgh she undertook postdoctoral work at New York University (USA) then started her lab at The University of Warwick in 2009 where she is now Professor and the Head of School of Life Sciences.