Plants growing in extreme environments from hyper-arid deserts to steep elevation gradients host microbial communities that play central roles in nutrient acquisition, stress mitigation, and soil functioning. In this seminar, I will explore how we can move from characterizing these microbiomes in wild relatives to engineering them as tools for sustainable agriculture. Using examples from date palm and wild grapevine microbiomes, I will show how ecological filters select for highly functional microbial hubs and plant-beneficial traits. I will then bridge these insights to the design of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) and to the emerging field of AMF upscaling, including recent bioreactor-based approaches and lipid-engineering strategies. Together, these perspectives illustrate how combining microbial ecology with biotechnology can reduce chemical inputs, strengthen soil health, and enhance crop resilience under climate change.
Nature of Life Seminar: Dr. Mahmoud Gargouri 13 January 2026 15:30 - 17:15
About Nature of Life Seminar: Dr. Mahmoud Gargouri
Starting date
- 13 January 2026
Time
- 15:30 - 17:15
Location
- Main Building
- HG-01A33
Address
- De Boelelaan 1105
- 1081 HV Amsterdam
Organised by
- A-LIFE, Systems Ecology
Language
- English
About our speaker:
Mahmoud Gargouri is a senior scientist and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at UCLouvain (Belgium). His research focuses on wild plant microbiomes, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and synthetic microbial communities to enhance crop resilience under abiotic and biotic stresses. He leads and contributes to several international projects on AMF bioreactor upscaling, microbiome engineering, and sustainable production systems in arid and semi-arid regions.