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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Sep 1

Last days to apply for a PhD position with us at IRTA Cabrils (Catalonia, Spain) to work on drought resistance of crops, root exudates, rhizosphere microbes, crop wild relatievs and more! talent.irta.cat/en/jobs/6147...

PhD Candidate for a project about drought resistance of crop roots - IRTA

We are an agri-food Research Institute under the Government of Catalonia, where over 1000 professionals work, with commitment, across 19 research areas to contribute to the future and to society.

talent.irta.cat

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Jul 9

#PhD position now open to work with us in Catalunya at IRTA (Cabrils) investigating domestication effects on crop roots and drought tolerance. Apply here: talent.irta.cat/en/jobs/6147...

PhD Candidate for a project about drought resistance of crop roots - IRTA

We are an agri-food Research Institute under the Government of Catalonia, where over 1000 professionals work, with commitment, across 19 research areas to contribute to the future and to society.

talent.irta.cat

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Jun 18

We're looking for a postdoc with experience in microbial data other omics to work on the project (3 year contract) here in Cabrils, Spain. Apply here ➡️ talent.irta.cat/en/jobs/6071...

Postdoctoral Researcher in Crop Domestication Effects on Plant and Soil Ecology for the Sustainability in Biosystems Program - IRTA

We are an agri-food Research Institute under the Government of Catalonia, where over 1000 professionals work, with commitment, across 19 research areas to contribute to the future and to society.

talent.irta.cat

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Jun 18

Last week we had a great kick-off meeting with colleagues and collaborators!

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · May 7

Some of the beautiful flowers in the WILD-ROOTS greenhouse today.

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Apr 14

🧪The plants are getting bigger and the exudate measurements are beginning in earnest. Hypothesis is that wild plants exude more C, and more diverse exudates, but previous experiments suggest it's not that simple!

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Reposted by ERC WILD-ROOTS

Amit Kumar @amit-kumar-phd.bsky.social · Apr 8

We are digging into how barley domestication shaped root and rhizosphere traits. Just look at those stunning roots! 🌾. I will be displaying some preliminary results at #Rhizosphere6 conf.
@wild-roots.bsky.social @mvanderheijden.bsky.social @ @cathepreece.bsky.social @barleymicrobreed.bsky.social

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Reposted by ERC WILD-ROOTS

Catherine Preece @cathepreece.bsky.social · Mar 31

My first time growing radish in an experiment-excited to include some root crops in the #WILD-ROOTS project. The modern and traditional varieties do look quite different! @wild-roots.bsky.social

Modern radish variety growing in plant pot with a visible pink root.

Traditional 'landrace' radish growing in a pot, and looking much weedier.

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Mar 24

Soil VOC emission measurements underway (with SPMEs) thanks to our Masters student Jordi. Will wild relatives have different emissions compared to modern crops?

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Reposted by ERC WILD-ROOTS

EDM-lab @edmlab.bsky.social · Mar 24

We are hiring!

Lab and field technician for the BRYOELEM project

creaf.factorialhr.com/job_posting/...

TÉCNICO/A DE SOPORTE A LA INVESTIGACIÓN EN TRABAJO DE CAMPO

Apply today to TÉCNICO/A DE SOPORTE A LA INVESTIGACIÓN EN TRABAJO DE CAMPO Y LABORATORIO PARA EL PROYECTO BRYOELEM (ref. 25-027-67899) job offer

creaf.factorialhr.com

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Reposted by ERC WILD-ROOTS

Joana Bergmann @joanabergmann.bsky.social · Mar 24

Very happy to see this review on the #root economics space lead by @elsaelsam.bsky.social being published! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
We show support and limitations of the concept, map extensions and discus future research avenues. Amazing team of coauthors!

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Mar 10

First measurements of photosynthesis underway. Will there already be differences between crops and wild relatives?

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Mar 5

The first plants are growing happily in the greenhouse. So far we have cereals and legumes, but many more to come. First photosynthesis measurements later this week!

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Reposted by ERC WILD-ROOTS

NL Institute of Ecology NIOO-KNAW @niooknaw.bsky.social · Feb 28

New publication: Domesticated #rice alters the #rhizosphere #microbiome, reducing #nitrogen fixation and increasing nitrous oxide emissions. #agroecology #sustainability #microbialecology
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Figure 9 in Chang et al. (2025): "A model disentangling the microbial N-cycling functions in the rhizosphere microbiome assembly of wild and domesticated rice accessions. During rice domestication, a higher abundance of nitrogen-fixing genes in the rhizosphere of wild rice, while domesticated rice exhibited an increased number of genes associated with nitrous oxide (N2O) production and reduction in the rhizosphere of domesticated rice. Created in BioRender. Chang, J. (2025) https://BioRender.com/r38f406."

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Reposted by ERC WILD-ROOTS

Catherine Preece @cathepreece.bsky.social · Feb 28

If you want to see what we get up to at IRTA (Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, in Catalunya) & the beautiful locations of the different centres, they've just published a series of short videos about some of the common methods we use...

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Feb 18

Looks great! Good luck to you too!

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Reposted by ERC WILD-ROOTS

Marcos Fernández-Martínez @burriach.bsky.social · Feb 14

Last few days to apply for this 4-year PhD contract at
@creaf.cat (#Barcelona) about

Spatial and temporal dynamics of biodiversity in Mediterranean spring ecosystems

Apply here:

creaf.factorialhr.com/job_posting/...

Deadline 23rd February 2025.

Please RT!

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Feb 18

The first experiment of the WILD-ROOTS project is getting up and running 🥳 We'll be looking at how domestication affects the roots of 20 different crops - exudation, VOCs, rhizosphere and more!

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Reposted by ERC WILD-ROOTS

Marcos Fernández-Martínez @burriach.bsky.social · Dec 16

The Flow of Elements and the Functioning of the Biosphere

Come and join our thematic session at SIBECOL 2025 (Pontevedra, Spain)!

sibecol-aeet-meeting2025.org/Index/11/Cal...

Deadline for submissions: 20 December!

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Dec 16

The WILD-ROOTS project is based at IRTA (Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology) in Cabrils (Catalonia, Spain) which was looking lovely in the winter sunshine today.

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Dec 10

📢Postdoc position open in WILD-ROOTS. Looking for a plant or soil ecologist with experience in omics analysis. Based at Cabrils, near Barcelona. borsatreball.irta.cat/enlace_ofert...
Contact [email protected] for more details.

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Dec 5

The maize seeds have arrived! 🥳 And here is a quick example of some of the differences and diversity you get from just one population of teosinte, landrace maize and modern maize.

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Reposted by ERC WILD-ROOTS

Catherine Preece @cathepreece.bsky.social · Dec 5

Happy #WorldSoilDay2024 ! Soil is the foundation of our experiments and our food! And here's a video from the @fao.org www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd9t...

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Dec 4

Climate change means that we now need crops that can thrive with fewer inputs under harsher conditions. Could crop wild relatives and traditional varieties help to increase the resilience of agricultural systems? Over the next 5 years that's what we aim to find out! [6/6]

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ERC WILD-ROOTS @wild-roots.bsky.social · Dec 4

Well, a bit like dogs versus wolves, crops tend to grow in conditions that are very different from their wild relatives. We give them all the water, nutrients and pest control that they could want. So we expect that crop wild relatives may be tougher and more resilient to drought and disease. [5/6]

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