Sofie Goormachtig

Sofie Goormachtig is both full professor at Ghent University and a group leader at the VIB center of Plant Systems Biology in Belgium. She divides her time between managing her research group and education at the university. She started her research career in 1987 at the UGent focusing on how interactions between plant roots and neighboring organisms influence plant growth in a positive way. Initially, the emphasis was on the symbiosis between legumes and rhizobia, resulting in the formation of new root organs, the nodules, in which the rhizobia reside and fix atmospheric nitrogen for the plant making plant growth independent of nitrogen fertilizers. Later on, she extended to other examples existing in nature. Plants indeed engage in numerous interactions with both beneficial and harmful soil organisms. These can be bacteria and fungi but also other plants, such as Orobanchaceae sp.. It is thus of great importance for plants to attract friends and repel foes. This intra- and interkingdom communication occurs through molecular signaling pathways involving the secretion and sensing of various metabolites and proteins. By using various models, her research group aims at understanding this molecular communication and explore how they can use this knowledge for various applications. Indeed, it is now generally agreed that many beneficial soil organisms can be used to increase sustainability in agriculture, thereby reducing the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers. Together with VIB colleagues, she is very proud to have established the start-up Aphea.Bio that exactly focusses on this topic. She is looking forward to interact with artists because it will give opportunities to look to her science from another angle which will definitely give new insights into the research.