Fede Berckx

Since August 2022, I am working as a postdoctoral researcher in the HeRo project (principal investigator: Martin Weih), and the IMPULSE project (principal investigator: Alexander Menegat). Here, I am looking into the microbiome of different Swedish crops such as winter wheat, soybean, and lupine. My main interest lies in the occurrence of plant pathogens and beneficial bacteria and fungi in relation to crop management, and how we can utilize microbial interactions to improve crop yield. 

Together with several other young researchers, I lead the project DIVERSOW. Here we are taking a holistic approach to close the yield gap in organic farming. I am involved in investigating the fungal communities associated with several modern, landrace, and heritage cultivars of spring wheat. 

Aside from doing research, I am passionate about science communication, e.g. via infographics.

I am a course leader for the course "Sustainable food production - challenges and cropping system solutions".

In addition, I have supervised several students working on their bacherlor- or masterthesis.  If you are interested in doing an internship or a thesis project on plant-microbe interactions, feel free to contact me.

I am co-supervisor of Electra Lennartsson, a PhD student working in the Novo Nordisk project "N2CROP".

I obtained my PhD from Stockholm University in February 2022, in the lab of Katharina Pawlowski. Here I looked at root nodule symbiosis between nitrogen-fixing bacteria Frankia and their host plants (Coriariaceae and Datiscaceae) from an evolutionary perspective. 

I obtained both my master's (2017) and my bachelor's (2015) degrees from Ghent University (BE).

2024 Berckx, F., Wibberg, D., [...],  Pawlowski, K. Genome analysis and biogeographic distribution of the earliest divergent Frankia clade in the southern hemisphere. FEMS Microbiology Ecology,  100:fiae042.

2024 Berckx, F. In the Spotlight: Getting to the roots of fungal interactions. Physiologia Plantarum, 176:e14295.

2024 Yang H, Berckx F, Fransson P, Weih M. Harnessing plant-microbe interactions to promote nitrogen use efficiency in cereal crops. Plant and Soil.

2022 Berckx F, Nguyen TV, ... , Pawlowski K. A tale of two lineages: How the strains of the earliest divergent symbiotic Frankia clade spread over the world. BMC Genomics 23: 1-12.

2022 Berckx F, Bandong CM, ... , Pawlowski K. Streptomyces coriariae sp. nov., a novel streptomycete isolated from actinorhizal nodules of Coriaria intermedia. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 72: 005603

2022 Berckx F, Nguyen TV, ... , Pawlowski K. Gene losses resulting in specialized metabolism in the earliest divergent symbiotic Frankia clade can be linked to its low saprotrophic capabilities. bioRxiv

2020 Berckx F, Wibberg D, Kalinowski J, Pawlowski K. The peptidoglycan biosynthesis gene murC in Frankia: actinobacterial vs. plant type. Genes. 11: 432.

2020 Herrera-Belaroussi A, Normand P, ..., Berckx F, ..., Pozzi AC. Candidatus Frankia  nodulisporulans sp. nov., an Alnus glutinosa-infective Frankia species unable to grow in pure culture and able to sporulate in-planta. Systematic and applied microbiology. 43: 126134.

2019 Nguyen TV, Wibberg D, Vigil-Stenman T, Berckx F, ..., Pawlowski K. Frankia-enriched metagenomes from the earliest divergent symbiotic Frankia cluster: They come in teams. Genome Biology and Evolution. 11: 2273-2291. 

Outreach 

2022 - Berckx F and Pawlowski K. What are the small lumps I see on some plant roots? Frontiers for young minds. 10: 660425.

You can find my most up-to-date publication list on my Google scholar account. I also occasionally send out a Tweet, but the best way to contact me is via email.