Biologist Vincent Merckx has been appointed as a special professor of Biodiversity and Symbiosis at the University of Amsterdam. His work focuses on the interaction between plants and fungi, and the development of techniques to measure and monitor biodiversity more rapidly.
Plants and fungiwork together
A plant in the wild is almost never alone. Around its roots lives a complex network of different fungal species. The majority of these help the plant obtain nutrients. This makes them essential for our forests, the climate, and the conservation of all species that depend on plants. It also makes them exceptionally worthy of scientific research. This is the kind of research that Vincent Merckx, as of today, special professor of Biodiversity and Symbiosis at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), conducts. There is, however, one problem…
DNA from the soil
The tricky thing about underground fungi is that fungal threads are just slightly too small to study with the naked eye. They are also underground, which makes studying them even harder. Merckx therefore tries to reveal the structure and function of these networks using DNA techniques. He is working on, among other things, pale plants without chlorophyll that do not photosynthesize but obtain their sugars from soil fungi. He is also studying the soil diversity around the roots of orchids in Dutch nature reserves, as well as around Amsterdam city trees. "A healthier urban soil might lead to trees that get sick less often," suggests Merckx.
Bio-infrastructure:eDentity
Merckx's work also contributes to the development of techniques and infrastructure for mapping biodiversity. Modern DNA technology is so sensitive that a small tube of soil or water, or an air filter, can already yield a wealth of information about the species present in a certain area. Naturalis aims to use the techniques he employs for his work on soil fungi more broadly to map biodiversity in the Netherlands. For example, the eDentity project, led by Merckx, is building an infrastructure that will enable biodiversity monitoring of soil, water, and air at a national level. Merckx: "This new perspective on Dutch nature should ultimately also lead to better choices in nature policy, and thus to the strengthening of biodiversity."
Cooperation withthe UvA
Vincent Merckx has been affiliated with the University of Amsterdam since 2019. His appointment as special professor is therefore a logical next step. "As scientific director of Naturalis, I value good collaborations - symbioses, if you will - with all universities in the Netherlands. The University of Amsterdam, with its strong focus on biodiversity, is naturally important in this regard. As a UvA employee, I am pleased that my role in the research and education of this university is only growing."
Merckx's position is not unique: Naturalis Biodiversity Center has professors and PhD candidates at almost all Dutch universities. As the national institute for biodiversity, we support their research and education.
More aboutProf. dr. Merckx' work
eDentity: a national eDNA infrastructure
