Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Grace Hoysted
Grace Hoysted, first author of Mucoromycotina fine root endophyte fungi form nutritional mutualisms with vascular plants
Current Position: NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Leeds, UK
Education: PhD Plant Science, University of Leeds, UK
Non-scientific Interests: Movies, reading, travelling
Brief Bio: Following a BSc in Biology at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), I moved to the University of Leeds for my MSc. In 2012, I joined the Plant Nematology Lab at the University of Leeds where I carried out my PhD on plant-mediated interactions between aphids and plant parasitic nematodes. I am particularly interested in how plants interact with symbiotic organisms, both parasitic and mutualistic, with special interests in the evolution of plant defence, nutrient acquisition strategies and interactions thereof. In 2017, I joined Prof. Katie Field’s lab at the University of Leeds as a postdoctoral research fellow where I began investigating the function and evolution of diverse plant-fungal symbioses. I use physiological techniques to assess bi-directional exchanges of carbon and nutrients between early-diverging lineages of plants and their diverse fungal symbionts. My research aims to enhance our understanding of the role of fungal symbionts in the initial colonisation of the terrestrial environment, and subsequent plant diversification.
