Dr. Soledad Benitez Ponce

Our team studies diversity and function of soil and plant-associated microorganisms and their contributions to plant growth. Specifically, for soybean we aim to provide evidence on a) how diversified soybean production improves soil health, microbial diversity and crop yields, and b) describe microbe-microbe interactions that influence plant growth, with emphasis on SCN infection.´ A key feature of my research is to study microorganisms at the community level, simultaneously evaluating multiple microbial taxa and their potential interactions within shared ecological niches.