ALT Community Science Program New Investigator (FY26) Congratulations to our 2026 CSP New Investigator recipients! Nadia Shakoor Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Multi-stage RNA-seq of sorghum to uncover diurnal and developmental gene regulation; & Deep soil metagenomes of sorghum bioenergy systems: Interactions of management, crop and depth.

ALT Fig. 1. Stages of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and associated conserved gene modules. Colonization of tissue—whether bryophyte thallus or flowering plant root cortex—involves many genes conserved across land plants. The process begins when the plant releases strigolactones (SLs), signaling molecules that fungi detect and that promote hyphal growth and branching toward the host tissue. Hyphae then enter individual cells and develop arbuscules, where nutrients are exchanged bidirectionally across the periarbuscular membrane (PAM). The plant genes controlling these processes are organized into conserved modules, shown in colored boxes. Genes in black text appear broadly in host genomes but are absent from nonhosts; white text indicates genes that are important for symbiosis and present in nonhost genomes.

ALT Fig. 1. Nitrogenase activity is not contingent upon total nodule mass or number. In the process of symbiotic nitrogen fixation, rhizobial nitrogenase converts atmospheric nitrogen gas into ammonia. Additionally, nitrogenase can fix acetylene gas into ethylene. This ability forms the basis of the acetylene reduction assay (ARA), commonly used to measure nitrogenase activity, an indicator of the level of nitrogen fixation occurring in root nodules.