AWARD 1: Student Award for Excellence in Mycorrhiza Research Publication
Winner: Johanna Wong
For her Paper: “The ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus microcarpus encodes a microRNA involved in cross-kingdom gene silencing during symbiosis”
(Wong-Bajracharya et al., 2022, PNAS). This paper is a significant leap forward in understanding the signals that control mycorrhizal colonization and the results from Johanna’s exceptional creativity, resourcefulness and dedication to her research. It demonstrates her tremendous potential as an early career researcher in plant-microbe interaction research.
This paper was also voted as the best mycorrhizal paper of the last four months in the
last IMS newsletter (issue July 2022)
AWARD 2: Early Career Award for Excellence in Mycorrhiza Research Publication
Winner: Vasilis Kokkoris
For his Paper: “Host identity influences nuclear dynamics in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Current Biology 2021 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.035).
Vasilis Kokkoris is an assistant professor at the VU Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Vasilis’s scientific achievements have contributed broadly to a better understanding the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. In this work, he discovered intricate genetic interactions between AMF and their hosts, opening ways to understand how the nuclear dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is tailored to their hosts and surrounding environment.
Many of you may know him for the beautiful pictures of mycorrhizal nuclei that are
made by Vasilis, Franck Stefani and Nicolas Corradi
AWARD 3: Mid-Career Mycorrhiza Research Excellence Award
Winner: Maarja Opik
Maarja Opik is a Professor of molecular ecology and director of the Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences at the University of Tartu, Estonia. She is the academic editor for the journals New Phytologist, Fungal Ecology, IMA Fungus and Plant and Soil.
Maarja Opik is well known for her work on molecular detection and identification of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. She has been at the forefront of molecular AM fungal research by developing DNA sequence-based nomenclatural system for Glomeromycotina to link the specimen (culture-) originating and environmental sequence information. Many of you will know the database MaarjAM.
AWARD 4: Eminent Mycorrhiza Researcher Award
Winner: Jim Bever
Foundation Distinguished Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
The University of Kansas, Lawrence, U.S.A.
He is a highly cited researcher, won a wide range of prizes and is very well known for his work on plant-soil feedback and the role of mycorrhizas in ecosystems and prairie restoration. Jim is one of the founders of the plant-soil feedback theory. His work published in high-profile journals integrates theory with empirical tests of population and community dynamics of plants and microbes. He is very active as a teacher and supervised many students and postdocs that are very active in mycorrhizal research.
AWARD 4: Eminent Mycorrhiza Researcher Award
Winner: Francis Martin
Francis Martin is a Research Director Emeritus at the National Research Institute for
Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE) in Nancy.
He enormously contributed to developing the mycorrhizal research field, especially to the genomics of mycorrhizal fungi. He coordinated large-scale sequencing
programs resulting in many high-profile publications. Francis Martin has been president of the International Mycorrhiza Society (IMS); he is a highly cited researcher, has won many prizes and has been editor of the New Phytologist for a long time.