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Salme Timmusk

Salme Timmusk
Associate Professor

Presentation

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Amne4BAfSl8_knrwA2yT4zdiIjo_?e=4lfWnT

erstanding how holobionts function in wild and harsh habitats and how micobiome mediates ecosystem and as well as plant biodiversity in the systems, enables us to identify key factors for plant fitness We characterise indigenous rhizosphere microbiome genomic and metabolomic features influencing plant biotic- and abiotic stress tolerance in native environments at the centers of crop plant origin and harsh habitats.

https://www.flipbookpdf.net/web/site/fd6905a71572ff96f0ea35a6dac0a0ba6329af19202305.pdf.html

Just as we think it is highly  important to consider wild progenitors and harsh habitats microbiome interaction in core for sustainable production systems, we also pay attention to our activities regarding communication and dissemination of our results.   Our cross disciplinary collaboration team involves scientists ranging from community- and systems ecology to analytical chemistry and social science. 

Plant root microbiome interactions are studied by observation using gradually increasing resolution  LM (A and B),  ESEM (C), SEM-EDS(D), AFM (E) and cryo-EM (F). 

Keywords *Deciphering plant–microbe interactions, construction of genome-scale metabolic models of microorganisms and plants. *Habitat re-creation *Extremophilic microorganisms and their biochemical adaptation and biotechnological application. *Bioremediation: decontamination of soil and water pollution generated by manmade chemicals

Research

Ongoing research projects:

Development of native rhizosphere community-based microbial consortia (CBC) for crop stress tolerance improvement and habitat re-creation

 

 

Integrating rhizosphere microbiomes from  Africa, Israel and in the Baltic Sea Region.   We analyze the role of root microbiome from the crop plants wild relatives, landraces and the representatives from naturally growing in stress habitats.

 Our studies illustrate the importance of method for selection of CBC (also known as PGPR) and  nanoparticles for the CBC formulation. Our results explain the generally observed inconsistent behaviour of PGPRs in field application. The nanoparticle effect is soil specific and is related to the particles’ ability to modulate the surface formation of complexes with important types of biomolecules such as phospholipids and proteins. Understanding the pathways improves the effectiveness of formulation and optimize the mutually complex interactions, as it allows their regulated delivery and release, focusing on specific tissues and cells at specific times. In this innovative transdisciplinary approach, we combine breeding lines and rhizosphere bacteria from the natural resources and vegetative drought tolerant plants. We combine experimental studies and cultivation-independent bioinformatic analysis to identify putative bacterial consortia. 

Plant genomic studies: associations with crop plant water use efficiency, bioremediation ability and nutritional element uptake 

Goal: Identification of crop plant genomic sequences associated with the stress factor of the study (drought, pollution, nutritional deficiency). Identification of genomic markers for CBC interaction to be employed in breeding programs

 Our studies reveal five times greater survival and 78% higher biomass in inoculated plants under drought stress using the bacterial consortia from the harsh environments. We optimise the bacterial beneficial effect via genomic studies, bioactive compound identification and development of formulation strategies using crystalline TiO2 and native silica nanoparticles for encapsulation of microorganisms. Coalescence of nanoparticles self-assembling on the surface of cell membranes leads to formation of dense and stable shells able to improve survival and function of plant growth promoting bacteria.

Industrial application of microbial consortia

Grapes under Climate Change (Grapes CC)

One of the keys is the approachto not only seeing the issues in the local ecosystem  and production context but on a global scale. Hence, soil C and N dynamics is focused. Our two main objectives are internationalisation of research and internationalisation of education in the field of wine-making under climate change.

The first goal - internationalisation of research (IoR) - aims at facilitating exchanges of knowledge and experience as well as co-creation of common strategies between researchers from Sweden, Armenia, Georgia and Chile.

In order to develop climate change mitigation strategies, researchers from different climate zones  will necessitate  working together. For these strategies to be as efficient and comprehensive as possible, a multi-actor approach, involving academic and agricultural stakeholders at an international level, is fundamental.

The second goal - internationalisation of education (IoE) - focuses on the strategies of education students. In order to adapt wine grapes to extreme, unpredictable conditions, future wine producers will have to be able to share expertise and best practices with colleagues from other geographical zones. As international collaboration is crucial, students need to acquire the skills to engage in it.

Bioremediation of pollution generated by manmade chemicals in the form of industrial activity, agricultural chemicals, or the improper disposal of waste
Goal: Replacement of conventional methods routinely used for the remediation of contaminated environmental soil and water such as excavation, transport to specialized landfills, incineration, stabilization, and vitrification. Bioremediation technologies using native microbial consortia offer many advantages over traditional remediation technologies as they can be applied in situ without the need for removal and transport of contaminated soil/water, are economical, less labour-intensive and have a lower carbon footprint.

Dissemination and communication: Crop plant microbiome is an  essential tool for future production systems

Goal: To maximize the impact of project 1 and 2 derived information  

While human microbiome research is increasingly applied in practical medicine, plant-microbial interaction research has a relatively weak link to practical agriculture. The future production  systems will be based on carefully designed crops and crop specific microbiome focusing on ecologial resoration, habitat creation and crop production profitability. The link to public education, practical agriculture/industry  and civil society  will  be strengthened via product and method communication. In collaboration to social scientists, we establish trans-national collaboration between researchers and stakeholders and carry out dissemination and communication activities addressed to district audiences by using  our projects concepts and results.

 

Cooperation

Prof. Eviatar Nevo Institute of Evolution, Haifa University, Israel: Evolutionary Biology; four natural laboratories of “Evolution Canyons" in Israel

Dr. Diriba Muleta, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopian small-grain cereals and their wild progenitors

Prof. Jill Farrant University of Cape Town, ZA  Myrothamnus flabellifolia,  and  Xerophyta schlechteri rhizosphere metatranscriptomics http://www.mcb.uct.ac.za/mcb/people/staff/academic/farrant

Prof. Bernhard Glick University of Waterloo, Canada: Mechanisms of microbe-mediated abiotic and biotic stress mitigation  

Prof. Jonas Bergquist Uppsala University (UU), Chemistry BMC, Sweden: Temporal dynamics of plant-soil metabolome 

Dr. Ilmar Tamm Estonian Crop Research Institute (ECRI), Estonia: Plant breeding, circular bioeconomy, NordGen genebank

Prof. Ylo Niinemets and Steffen Noe Estonian University of Life Sciences: Station for Measuring Ecosystems Atmospheric Relations (SMEAR Estonia)

Dr. Julian Conrad Swedish National Cryo-EM facility, SciLifeLab, Stockholm, Sweden:  Super-resolution microscopy

Bioinformatics 

Prof. Erik Rudloff-Bongcam SLU-Global Bioinformatics Centre

Taavi Pall University of Tartu, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine

Dissemination and communication activities

Dr. Paul Fuehrer Södertörn University, School of Social Sciences 

Prof Tarmo Soomere TallinTech,Univ. Estonia Mapping  and engineering of  Baltic Sea pollution  https://wavelab.ioc.ee/

Dr. Lawrence Behers Novawest Technology and Communications, USA

 


Contact

Researcher at the Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology; Division of Forest Microbiology
Telephone: +4618-672727
Postal address:
Skoglig mykologi och växtpatologi , Box 7026
750 07 UPPSALA
Visiting address: Almas Allé 5, Uppsala