Plant-Soil Ecology - PSE

Ana Sofia da Encarnação Boavida Paulo

PhD Student

I am conducting a Ph.D. in Applied and Environmental Microbiology by the University of Minho starting in 2019 within the Plant-Soil Ecology Group of cE3c. I am conducting the project “Host-mediated engineering of microbiomes for stress-proof plants”, under the supervision of Doctor Cristina Cruz and Doctor Rogério Tenreiro.

My Ph.D. project aims are: i) to distinguish between stochastic plant microbe interactions (total plant microbiome) and deterministic interactions (core microbiome); ii) deepen the mechanisms associated with the engineering of the plant microbe interactions to increase productivity and plant defense; iii) clarify the role of miRNA in the inter-kingdom communication at the plant microbiome level identifying the molecules involved and highlighting possible mechanisms of action.