Soil is a home for an unbelievable diversity and abundance of microbial life that is essential for supporting life on our planet.

In this thesis I examine how soil biotic and abiotic characteristics change and interact throughout the course of afforestation and how they subsequently impact tree performance.

In this thesis, the role of plant-mediated soil legacy effects in shaping aboveground plant-insect interactions was investigated.

Soil biodiversity is of great importance for the maintenance of multifunctionality in terrestrial ecosystems.

Organic amendments applied to agricultural fields can partially offset our carbon emissions to the atmosphere and improve the resilience of agriculture to the effects of climate change. Driving these benefits, however, are complex and poorly understood interactions between organic amendment properties,…

Kunst en vrije tijd, Kunst en vrije tijd

The soil ecosystem consists of the largest reservoir of biodiversity on Earth.

The main research question of this thesis was: Can nitrogen cycling on dairy farms on peat soil in the Dutch Green Heart area be improved by adapting management to the nitrogen supply from soil and by using other grassland species and crops without affecting milk production?

The skin is our natural barrier and lipids are a key part of this barrier. In the outer skin layer, the stratum corneum (SC), lipids form a densely organized structure dependent on the composition of these lipids.

Promotor: J.A. van Veen, Co-promotor: E.E. Kuramae

By growing in a soil plants change the biotic and abiotic properties of the soil in which they grow.

Promotores: Prof.dr. H. van Veen & Prof.dr. W. de Boer (Wageningen University)

The stratum corneum is the outermost skin layer and consists of dead cells embedded in a lipid matrix.

Plants and soils from natural ecosystems harbor great diversity of soil microorganisms, which could potentially contribute to the sustainability of horticulture. The knowledge about using wild plant species and soil from natural ecosystem to improve the crop health will advance the application of ecological…

Promotores: J.A.van Veen, P.L.G.Klinkhamer. Co-promotor: E.E.Kuramae

In this thesis, I focused on studying the above- and belowground interactions of J. vulgaris from a plant-soil feedback (hereafter, PSF) perspective. I investigated the temporal variation of negative PSF and examined the effects of root-associated bacteria on plant performance and aboveground herbiv…

In this PhD study, I aim to deepen our understanding of the influence of major mycorrhizal types, namely arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) and ectomycorrhizae (EM), on the global soil carbon cycle and their potential distribution changes under future environmental shifts.

The use of N fertilizers has increased worldwide in the past century. While this increased input of N has increased food productivity, it has also contributed to decreases in biodiversity, soil quality and environmental health, including increases in greenhouse gas emissions.

Vinasse is a major by-product generated by the sugarcane biofuel industry. It is a source of microbes, nutrients and organic matter and often it is recycled as fertilizer.

The research presented in this thesis explores the chemotherapeutic potential of metal-based compounds as chemotherapy agents, with an initial focus on the synthesis and DNA interaction studies of platinum and palladium compounds utilizing the [Pt(bapbpy)]2+ scaffold. The study identifies intercalation…

Striga hermonthica, commonly known as witchweed, infests major cereal crops in Sub-Saharan Africa causing severe yield losses and threatening the livelihood of millions of resource poor farmers.

Promotors: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo, Prof.dr. G.A. Persoon, Prof.dr.ir. H.H. de Iongh

De

Hoogleraar Sjef Barbiers wordt per 1 september 2025 benoemd tot directeur-bestuurder van het Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal (INT). Hij zal per die datum terugtreden als wetenschappelijk directeur van het LUCL.

Promotie

Welke rol spelen ouder-kind interacties bij het ontstaan, in stand houden en de behandeling van depressieve klachten van jongeren?

Promotie

‘Wat ik aantrekkelijk vind aan het bodemleven, is dat het stuurbaar is,’ verklapt onderzoeker Martijn Bezemer van het Instituut Biologie Leiden (IBL). ‘Dat je kan zeggen: wat wil je? En dat ik de bodem dan kan omtoveren tot iets wat jij nodig hebt. Ten minste, dat dachten we.’

Hoogleraar Sjef Barbiers verruilt per 1 september zijn baan als wetenschappelijk directeur van het LUCL voor de functie van directeur-bestuurder van het Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal (INT).

Het LUCL heeft een nieuwe wetenschappelijk directeur. Hoogleraar Sjef Barbiers heeft per 1 januari het stokje overgenomen van Lisa Cheng. ‘Dit is een mooie kans om bij te dragen aan een mooi instituut.’

Promotor: P. J. J. Hooykaas Co-promotor: B. S de Pater

Understanding DNA repair mechanisms is essential for advancing plant biotechnology and crop improvement. This study investigates how double-strand breaks (DSBs), induced by CRISPR/Cas systems, are repaired in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and how these processes influence Agrobacterium tumefaciens…

Increasing the efficiency of gene targeting (GT) as a genome editing tool in plants has been an important goal in plant biotechnology.

Jan Willem Erisman wilde als kind al dingen beter maken. Als hoogleraar Duurzaamheid en Milieu is hij daarom ook buiten de universiteit actief. Hij staat bekend als de stikstofprofessor: in de media, maar ookin de Tweede Kamer legt hij het stikstofprobleem uit. Recent trad hij toe tot de Europese Soil…

Promotor: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg

The rapidly increasing commercial application of metallic nanoparticles within products will inevitably enhance the amount of NPs being released into soil.

Dit handboek brengt een wereldwijd representatief team van wetenschappers samen en biedt een uitgebreid overzicht van comparatieve syntaxis, de studie van universele en variabele eigenschappen van de structuur van bouwstenen in menselijke taal.

Promotor: E.F. Smets, Co-promotor: J. Geml

Promotor: E.F. Smets Co-promotor: J. Geml

Microbiome composition of the spermosphere and the rhizosphere of wild and modern bean accessions grown in an agricultural and a native soil from Colombia was characterized by metagenomics and cultivation-dependent approaches.

Kunst en vrije tijd, Kunst en vrije tijd

Herstel van de natuur op uitgeputte landbouwgrond en in natuurgebieden verloopt moeizaam. ‘Bodemtransplantatie’ kan mogelijk uitkomst bieden. Dat betoogt Martijn Bezemer, hoogleraar Ecologie van Plant-Microbe-Insect interacties. Oratie op 18 december.