The Enabling Nutrient Symbioses in Agriculture (ENSA) research project enters a new phase with Aarhus University and the University of Cambridge at the helm driving innovation for sustainable agriculture.

ENSA is an international research programme using symbiotic associations with nitrogen fixing bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to sustainably increase crop yields. From October 2025, ENSA will operate under a dual directorship, with Professor Simona Radutoiu of Aarhus University appointed as Scientific Director and Professor Uta Paszkowski of the University of Cambridge named Administrative Director.

The new joint leadership places two world-leading scientific institutions at the forefront of efforts to revolutionize crop nutrition for smallholder farmers.

International collaboration to leverage pioneering science

Since 2023 ENSA has been pushing the boundaries of agricultural science, focusing on the development of crops that require fewer inputs and thrive in some of the world’s most nutrient-depleted soils. This new leadership model highlights the power of international collaboration as it leverages pioneering science to create more sustainable and productive agricultural systems worldwide.

“By advancing research that bridges the gap in crop nutrition and lowers the reliance on costly agricultural inputs, ENSA is opening the possibility for a more affordable, equitable, and environmentally sustainable agrifood systems in the future,” said Professor Simona Radutoiu, whose research explores plant and microbe interactions fundamental to this vision.

The new dual directorship model is designed to strengthen both the scientific and organizational foundations of ENSA as it enters this pivotal phase.

“We look forward to continuing to build on the strong foundations that ENSA has already established and working towards our scientific and societal goals including on improving and expanding the use of beneficial microorganisms for the delivery of nutrients essential for sustainable crop production,” said Professor Uta Paszkowski, who leads pioneering work on enhancing cereal crop nutrition through natural symbioses.

Research to ensure all communities thrive

ENSA is funded by Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One) – a subsidiary of the Gates Foundation that accelerates breakthrough agricultural research to meet the urgent and neglected needs of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Joe Cornelius, CEO of Gates Ag One, emphasized the importance of this investment. “The groundbreaking work of ENSA is fundamental to leveraging the latest crop technology to ensure all communities have the chance to thrive,” he said. “By partnering with leading institutions like Aarhus and Cambridge, we are accelerating the pace at which cutting-edge science reaches the hands of those who need it most.”

As ENSA moves forward under the joint stewardship of Aarhus University and the University of Cambridge, the project remains committed to developing practical, science-based solutions in continued collaboration with partners: University of Oxford, Niab, Royal Holloway University of London, Wageningen University, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, University of Illinois, Pennsylvania State University, and La Trobe University.

Simona Radutoiu
Simona Radutoiu is a full Professor in the section for Plant Molecular Biology at Aarhus University, Denmark. She studies interactions established between plants and the large diversity of surrounding microbes. Her team uses genetic and molecular tools to decipher the role of plant components in establishing symbiotic associations with beneficial bacteria and fungi, or pathogenic associations with detrimental microbes. These interactions are studied by performing targeted investigation of the LysM receptors that recognize carbohydrate-based signals produced by microbes and by analysing the microbial communities associated with different plant genotypes. The research builds on findings from studies of the symbiotic interactions between the model plant Lotus japonicus, and nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizae fungi, and uses the latest techniques and methods in genetics and genomic analysis to elucidate the molecular dialogue between host plants and microbes.

Uta Paszkowski
Uta Paszkowski is a full Professor at the Crop Science Centre in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK. Her research focuses on molecular mechanisms underlying the formation and functioning of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses in rice and maize. Her team established rice and maize as monocotyledonous models for the study of molecular genetics of AM symbioses and has made seminal contributions to the field. The mutually beneficial AM symbiosis is the most widespread association between roots of terrestrial plants and fungi of the Glomeromycota. The association receives increasing scientific attention because of the nutritional benefit it confers to plants, its ubiquitous occurrence among contemporary plant species and, as a result of its evolutionary antiquity, an ancestral relationship to other plant interactions. Her research aims at developing knowledge to optimize the incorporation of the AM-symbiosis into sustainable yet modern agricultural practices.

 

Image: Professor Simona Radutoiu (left) and Professor Uta Paszkowski (right), new co-Directors of ENSA. Photo credits: Professor Radutoiu by Helen Eriksen and Professor Paszkowski © University of Cambridge.