Sofia Fernandes Gomes
Assistant professor
- Name
- Dr. S.I. Fernandes Gomes
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 5118
- s.i.fernandes.gomes@biology.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0001-7218-1531
My main research interest is to understand how species interactions influence the structure and functioning of plant-microbial communities. I got my PhD from Leiden University in the Institute of Environmental Sciences. My previous work has focused on symbiosis between plants and mycorrhizal fungi, but is increasingly expanding to include other groups of organisms that are part of the soil foodweb in forest ecosystems. In my research I work across multiple scales from microcosm assays to field experiments. I am the scientific coordinator of the SILVA NOVA project at Leiden University.
Brief biography
2021 – present: Institute of Biology (IBL), Leiden University, The Netherlands
- Postdoc in the group of Prof. Martijn Bezemer, Above-belowground interactions group, Plant Sciences
- Project leader: Silva Nova – restoring soil biology and soil functions to gain multiple benefits in new forest
- Guest researcher at Naturalis Biodiversity Center
For more information about current research, please check out the Above-Belowground Interactions Group Website.
2020-2021: Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Postdoc in the group of Prof. Liesje Mommer, Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation
Project: Playing hide and seek
2019-2020: Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Postdoc in the group of Prof. Martijn Bezemer, Terrestrial Ecology
Project: Changing Microbiomes (supported by the Academy Ecology Fund, KNAW)
2019: BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Germany
- EMBO short-term fellow in the group of Prof. Gerhard Gebauer
Project: Isotope natural abundances of fungal hyphae (supported by EMBO)
2014-2018: Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, The Netherlands & Naturalis Biodiversity Center
- PhD thesis: Cheating Belowground Interactions
Postdoc
Assistant professor
- Science
- Instituut Biologie Leiden
- IBL Plant Sciences
- Wang D., Trimbos K.B., Fernandes Gomes S.I., Jacquemyn H. & Merckx V.S.F.T. (2024), Metabarcoding read abundances of orchid mycorrhizal fungi are correlated to copy numbers estimated using ddPCR, New Phytologist 242(4): 1825-1834.
- Fernandes Gomes S.I., Fortuna M.A., Bascompte J. & Merckx V.S.F.T. (2022), Mycoheterotrophic plants preferentially target arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi that are highly connected to autotrophic plants, New Phytologist 235(5): 2034-2045.
- Fernandes Gomes S.I., Kikuchi I.A.B.S., Lachenaud O., Perdomo J., Léotard G., Maas P.J.M., Maas-van de Kamer H. & Merckx V.S.F.T. (2022), Unravelling the species diversity, phylogeny and biogeography of the mycoheterotrophic Voyrieae (Gentianaceae) and the description of a new species, Taxon 71(5): 1013-1024.
- Ampt E.A., Francioli D., Ruijven J. van, Gomes S.I.F., Maciá‐Vicente J.G., Termorshuizen A.J., Bakker L.M. & Mommer L. (2022), Deciphering the interactions between plant species and their main fungal root pathogens in mixed grassland communities, Journal of Ecology 110(12): 3039-3052.
- Wang D.Y., Jacquemyn H., Gomes S.I.F., Vos R.A. & Merckx V.S.F.T. (2021), Symbiont switching and trophic mode shifts in Orchidaceae, New Phytologist 231(2): 791-800.
- Soudzilovskaia N.A., Vaessen S., Barcelo M., He J., Rahimlou S., Abarenkov K., Brundrett M.C., Gomes S.I.F., Merckx V.S.F.T. & Tedersoo L. (2020), FungalRoot: global online database of plant mycorrhizal associations, New Phytologist 227(3): 955-966.
- Gomes S.I.F., Bodegom P.M. van, Agtmaal M. van, Soudzilovskaia N.A., Bestman M., Duijm E., Speksnijder A. & Eekeren N. van (2020), Microbiota in dung and milk differ between organic and conventional dairy farms, Frontiers in Microbiology 11: 1746.
- Eekeren N. van, Agtmaal M. van, Bestman M., Gomes S.I.F., Bodegom P.M. van, Soudzilovskaia N.A., Duijm E. & Speksnijder A. (2020), Bacteriën en schimmels op melkveebedrijf in beeld, Vfocus 2020(5): 26-29.
- Gomes S.I.F., Kielak A.M., Hannula S.E., Heinen R., Jongen R., Keesmaat I., Long J.R. de & Bezemer T.M. (2020), Microbiomes of a specialist caterpillar are consistent across different habitats but also resemble the local soil microbial communities, Animal Microbiome 2: 37.
- Martorelli I., Helwerda L.S., Kerkvliet J., Gomes S.I.F., Nuytinck J., Werff C.R.A. van der, Ramackers G.J., Goultiaev A.P., Merckx V.S.F.T. & Verbeek F.J. (2020), Fungal metabarcoding data integration framework for the MycoDiversity DataBase (MDDB), Journal Integrative Bioinformatics 17(1): 20190046.
- Giesemann P., Eichenberg D., Stockel M., Seifert L.F., Gomes S.I.F., Merckx V.S.F.T. & Gebauer G. (2020), Dark septate endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Paris-morphotype) affect the stable isotope composition of 'classically' non-mycorrhizal plants, Functional Ecology 34(12): 2453-2466.
- Gomes S.I.F., Merckx V.S.F.T., Kehl J. & Gebauer G. (2020), Mycoheterotrophic plants living on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are generally enriched in(13)C,N-15 and(2)H isotopes, Journal of Ecology 108(4): 1250-1261.
- Merckx V.S.F.T. & Gomes S.I.F. (2020), Symbiosis: herbivory alters mycorrhizal nutrient exchange, Current Biology 30(10): R437-R439.
- Gomes S.I.F., Bodegom P.M. van, Merckx V.S.F.T. & Soudzilovskaia N.A. (2019), Global distribution patterns of mycoheterotrophy, Global Ecology and Biogeography 28(8): 1133-1145.
- Gomes S.I.F., Bodegom P.M. van, Merckx V.S.F.T. & Soudzilovskaia N.A. (2019), Environmental drivers for cheaters of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in tropical rainforests, New Phytologist 223(3): 1575–1583.
- Fernandes Gomes S.I. (30 October 2018), Cheating belowground interactions : diversity, ecology and distribution of mycoheterotrophy (Dissertatie. Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Faculty of Science, Leiden University). Supervisor(s) and Co-supervisor(s): Bodegom P.M. van, Soudzilovkaia N.A.
- Gomes S.I.F., Aguirre Gutierrez J., Bidartondo M.I. & Merckx V.S.F.T. (2017), Arbuscular mycorrhizal interactions of mycoheterotrophic Thismia are more specialized than in autotrophic plants, New Phytologist 2013(3): 1418–1427.
- Gomes S.I.F., Merckx V.S.F.T. & Saavedra S. (2017), Fungal-host diversity among mycoheterotrophic plants increases proportionally to their fungal-host overlap, Ecology and Evolution 7(10): 3623–3630.
- Merckx V.S.F.T., Gomes S.I.F., Wapstra M., Hunt C., Steenbeeke G., Mennes C.B., Walsh N., Smissen R., Hsieh T.-H., Smets E.F. & Bidartondo M.I. (2017), The biogeographical history of the interaction between mycoheterotrophic Thismia (Thismiaceae) plants and mycorrhizal Rhizophagus (Glomeraceae) fungi, Journal of Biogeography 44(8): 1869–1879.
- Carvalheiro L.G., Biesmeijer J.C., Benadi G., Frund J., Stang M., Bartomeus I., Kaiser-Bunbury C.N., Baude M., Fernandes Gomes S.I., Merckx V.S.F.T., Baldock K.C.R., Bennett A.T.D., Boada R., Bommarco R., Cartar R., Chacoff N., Danhardt J., Dicks L.V., Dormann C.F., Ekroos J., Henson K.S.E., Holzschuh A., Junker R.R., Lopezaraiza-Mikel M., Memmott J., Montero-Castano A., Nelson I.L., Petanidou T., Power E.F., Rundlof M., Smith H.G., Stout J.C., Temitope K., Tscharntke T., Tscheulin T., Vila M. & Kunin W.E. (2014), The potential for indirect effects between co-flowering plants via shared pollinators depends on resource abundance, accessibility and relatedness, Ecology Letters 17(11): 1389-1399.