Paola Bonfante

Professor of Plant Biology, she pioneered plant-microbe interaction studies. Using cellular, molecular biology and NGS techniques, she investigated mycorrhizal fungi and their plant-communication. She discovered fungal endobacteria, and how they modulate host-functional traits. She belongs to national/international Academies, has been among the world- most cited researchers and the top Italian scientists. She has written a book (A Plant is not an Island) in which she talks about the issues that fascinate her.

In the rhizosphere plant roots come into contact with a multitude of  soil microbes: depending on the microbial signals they perceive, root cells  activate immune or symbiotic programmes, culminating in microbe rejection or acceptance. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are widespread soil fungi which associate with around 70% of land plants in a pervasive symbiosis whose beneficial effects on conservation and restoration of wild and agricultural ecosystems are largely acknowledged. Deciphering the molecular dialogue between the two partners is a major challenge in the field of plant microbe interactions. Over the last couple of decades, a combination of cell biology, genetics and omics studies have identified fungal symbiotic signals as chitin-derived molecules, characterized their plant receptors and the downstream calcium-mediated signalling pathway governing the regulation of symbiotic genes. Fungus-directed signals include carotenoid-derived metabolites that modulate fungal development throughout the root colonization process. Our current understanding of plant-fungus signaling supports the existence of multiple communication levels, where symbiotic and immune responses are in continuity, with relevant consequences for the ecological role and applicative perspectives of this symbiosis.