Miguel Ângelo Santos

Miguel Ângelo Santos is a Research Fellow in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, working within the Cereal Symbiosis Research Group at the Crop Science Centre. His research focuses on characterizing proteins essential to the communication between plant roots and mycorrhizae.

Dr. Santos' research interests include:

• Plant-Microbe Symbiosis
• Cereal Biology
• Mycorrhizae
• Plant Stress Responses
• Bioinformatics
• Plant Pathology

Dr. Santos began his career in plant science at the University of Minho, where he completed his master's research characterizing novel SUMO proteases in Arabidopsis thaliana against various abiotic stresses. He then pursued his PhD at the John Innes Centre, studying the susceptibility of Brachypodium distachyon population lines to Fusarium root rot and Take-all disease. His doctoral work also involved bioinformatic analyses to understand the genetic responses of both Brachypodium and wheat to the Fusarium toxin deoxynivalenol.

At Cambridge, Dr. Santos continues his research on plant-microbe interactions, with a specific focus on cereal symbiosis. His current work aims to identify and characterize key proteins involved in the communication between plant roots and mycorrhizal fungi, which could have significant implications for sustainable agriculture and crop improvement.