Prof. Dr. Marcel Bucher

The dynamic metabolic interplay between plant roots and soil microbiomes enabled the colonisation of land about 500 million years ago. In this context, our research focuses on nutrient assimilation and metabolic interactions in beneficial microbe-root interactions in land plants under environmental pressure and climate change. Using state-of-the-art molecular, genomic and physiological techniques, our research unravels the symbiotic dialogues between roots and microbes to overcome the adverse effects of challenging environmental conditions. We are also investigating the cellular response to phosphorus and nitrogen availability in different plant species, hypothesising that it plays a crucial role in the efficient colonisation of the root by beneficial fungi through a series of regulated molecular events. The overall aim is to understand how plant nutrient status and specific gene regulators control metabolic interactions in the symbiosis. The aim is to investigate the genetic and molecular basis of plant-beneficial microbe interactions and their evolutionary basis in a wide range of plants, from algae to angiosperms.

1. Leng J, Wei X, Jin X, Wang L, Fan K, Zou K, Zheng Z, Saridis G, Zhao N, Zhou D, Duanmu D, Wang E, Cui H, Bucher M, Xue L (2023) ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZA-INDUCED KINASES AMK8 and AMK24 associate with the receptor-like kinase KINASE3 to regulate arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in Lotus japonicus. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1093/plcell/koad050.
2. Rich MK, Vigneron N, Libourel C, Keller J, Xue L, Hajheidari M, Radhakrishnan GV, Le Ru A, Diop SI, Potente G, Conti E, Duijsings D, Batut A, Le Faouder P, Kodama K, Kyozuka J, Sallet E, Becard G, Rodriguez-Franco M, Ott T, Bertrand-Michel J, Oldroyd GED, Szovenyi P, Bucher M, Delaux PM (2021) Lipid exchanges drove the evolution of mutualism during plant terrestrialization. Science 372(6544):864-868. doi: 10.1126/science.abg0929.
3. Xue L, Klinnawee L, Zhou Y, Saridis G, Vijayakumar V, Brands M, Dormann P, Gigolashvili T, Turck F, Bucher M (2018) AP2 transcription factor CBX1 with a specific function in symbiotic exchange of nutrients in mycorrhizal Lotus japonicus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115(39):E9239-E9246. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1812275115.
4. Almario J, Jeena G, Wunder J, Langen G, Zuccaro A, Coupland G, Bucher M (2017) Root-associated fungal microbiota of nonmycorrhizal Arabis alpina and its contribution to plant phosphorus nutrition. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 114(44):E9403-E9412. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1710455114.
5. Rausch C, Daram P, Brunner S, Jansa J, Laloi M, Leggewie G, Amrhein N, Bucher M (2001) A phosphate transporter expressed in arbuscule-containing cells in potato. Nature 414(6862):462-466. doi: Doi 10.1038/35106601.