Professor

Current projects:
My work focus on Plant-microbe interactions and Nitrogen in plants and soil:
-       Biological nitrogen fixation in symbioses between Rhizobium and cultivated and native
        legumes.
-       The role of amino acids as a nitrogen source for agricultural plants.
-       Effects of endophytic fungi on performance of forage grasses.

Biological nitrogen fixation is the only biological process that can add nitrogen (N) to an ecosystem and is thus a key process in the nitrogen cycle. Legumes have the unique ability to acquire nitrogen by forming symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria, Rhizobium, in root nodules. The very low or no requirement for nitrogen fertilisation in legume cultivation is strongly positive for the environment, mainly because production and use of chemical nitrogen fertilisers have a high demand for fossil energy and often results in production of greenhouse gases. Another benefit is that perennial legumes, like clover and lucerne, contribute to improved soil structure and soil fertility. In our studies of perennial and annual legumes in forage production we focus on nitrogen fixation and distribution of fixed nitrogen in harvest and in field remnants. 15N-techniques are important tools. Native legumes, their nodulation, nitrogen fixation and root nodule bacteria are also studied. For further information on legume research, see the SLU-network LegSA

Another fascinating plant-microbe interaction is grasses in symbiosis with endophytic fungi of the genera Neotyphodium and Epichloë. The fungi live in the grass shoots without giving any pathogenic symptoms. In the symbioses between different species of grasses and fungi different alkaloids are produced. The alkaloids differ in their toxicity to herbivores ranging from insects to small and large mammals. Our current studies focus on the importance of Neotyphodium for production of forage grasses.

In addition to the well-known nitrogen forms ammonium and nitrate, also organic nitrogen compounds like amino acids can serve as a nitrogen source for plants. We investigate which concentrations of the different nitrogen forms are found in agricultural soil solution and to what extent amino acids at environmentally realistic concentrations are taken up by barley and Arabidopsis. Physiological mechanisms that make amino acid uptake in plants possible are studied in Arabidopsis.

Selected recent publications

Ampomah OY, Huss-Danell K 2011. Genetic diversity of root nodule bacteria nodulating Lotus corniculatus and Anthyllis vulneraria in Sweden. - Systematic and Applied Microbiology 34:267-275.

Ampomah OY, Huss-Danell K 2011. Nodulation of Thermopsis lupinoides by a Mesorhizobium huakuii strain with a unique nodA gene in Kamtchatka, Russia. - Applied and Environmental Microbiology 77:5513-5516.

Jensen ES, Frankow-Lindberg B, Huss-Danell K, Carlsson G, Huhtanen P, Dimberg L. 2011. Därför är baljväxter framtidens hållbara livsmedel. - Miljöaktuellt 2011-08-30. 

Carlsson G, Palmborg C, Jumpponen A, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Högberg P, Huss-Danell K 2009. N2 fixation in three perennial Trifolium species in experimental grasslands of varied plant species richness and composition. – Plant Ecology.

Duodu S, Carlsson G, Huss-Danell K, Svenning MM 2007. Large genotypic variation but small variation in N2 fixation among rhizobia nodulating red clover in soils of northern Scandinavia. - Journal of Applied Microbiology 102:1625-1635.

Huss-Danell K, Chaia E, Carlsson G 2007. Nitrogen additions above and below ground from N2 fixation in red clover-grasslands. – Plant and Soil 299:215-226.

Carlsson G, Palmborg C, Huss-Danell K 2006. Discrimination against 15N in three N2-fixing Trifolium species as influenced by Rhizobium strain and plant age. - Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B, Soil and Plant Science 56:31-38.

Huss-Danell, K. and Chaia, E. 2005. Use of different plant parts to study N2 fixation with 15N techniques in field-grown red clover (Trifolium pratense). – Physiologia Plantarum 125:21-30.

Carlsson G, Huss-Danell K 2003. N2 fixation in perennial forage legumes in the field. -  Plant Soil 253: 353-372.

Puentes A, Bazely DR, Huss-Danell K 2007. Endophytic fungi in Festuca pratensis grown in Swedish agricultural grasslands with different managements. – Symbiosis 44:121-126.

Darenius K, Huss-Danell K, Häggblom P, Bylin A 2011. Svampgifter i vallgräs och reproduktionsproblem hos häst. – Svensk Veterinärtidning Nr 12:21-24.

Inselsbacher E, Öhlund J, Jämtgård S, Huss-Danell K, Näsholm T 2011. The potential of microdialysis to monitor organic and inorganic nitrogen compounds in soil. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43:1321-1332.

Svennerstam H, Jämtgård S, Ahmad I, Huss-Danell K, Näsholm T, Ganeteg U 2011. Transporters in Arabidopsis roots mediating uptake of amino acids at naturally occurring concentrations. – New Phytologist 191:459-467.
 
Jämtgård S, Näsholm T, Huss-Danell K 2010. Nitrogen compounds in soil solutions of agricultural land. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry 42: 2325-2330. 

Jämtgård S, Näsholm T, Huss-Danell K 2008. Characteristics of amino acid uptake in barley. – Plant and Soil 302:221-231. 

Link to the departments publications 

Contact:

Professor Kerstin Huss-Danell
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden
SE-90183 Umeå, Sweden
Phone +46 70 6532188
kerstin.huss-danell@slu.se