Systems biology of soil microbiomes

Production in the agriculture sector must be improved to meet the demand for food of a population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. While automation, intensive farming, and fertilisers have boosted production, they are now unsustainable. Moreover, greenhouse gases emissions associated with these practices are a driver of climate change, compromising the quality of soils, water and food and reducing the diversity of the ecosystems. Soil represents a highly diverse ecosystem composed of microorganisms collectively known as the 'soil microbiome'. Understanding the resilience of these microorganisms to the impact of climate change and agriculture can provide the solution to mitigate the damage caused.

This project aims to implement a cutting-edge approach to transfer the relevant mechanisms from soil microbiomes into efficient bio-products that improve soils' health, increase the availability of nutrients, boost productivity in agriculture, and reduce the ecological impact. This project will involve working in the biophysical characterization of soils, metagenomics analysis of soils microbiomes, analysis of microbial communities using multiomics and evaluating the effects of those communities in plants and soils.