Professor Katie Field
School of Biosciences
Professor of Plant-Soil Processes
k.j.field@sheffield.ac.uk
A01 Lab A10, Arthur Willis Environment Centre
Full contact details
Professor Katie Field
School of Biosciences
A01 Lab A10
Arthur Willis Environment Centre
Maxfield Avenue
Sheffield
S10 1AE
School of Biosciences
A01 Lab A10
Arthur Willis Environment Centre
Maxfield Avenue
Sheffield
S10 1AE
- Profile
-
- 2025 - present: Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellow, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield
- 2020 - present: Professor of Plant-Soil Processes, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield
- 2019 – 2020: Professor of Plant-Soil Interactions, School of Biology, University of Leeds
- 2017 – 2019: Associate Professor in Plant-Soil Processes, School of Biology, University of Leeds
- 2016 – 2021: BBSRC Translational Fellow, School of Biology, University of Leeds
- 2015 - 2017: University Academic Fellow in Plant-Soil Processes, School of Biology, University of Leeds
- 2015: Patrick and Irwin-Packington Fellow, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield
- 2009 – 2014: Postdoctoral Research Associate (NERC), Dept. Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield
- 2005 – 2008: PhD, University of Sheffield
- 2002 - 2005: BSc, Plant Sciences, University of Durham
- Research interests
-
Life on Earth depends on partnerships between different species, and one of the most important is the relationship between plants and soil fungi, known as "mycorrhizas”. These partnerships have existed for over 500 million years, and likely played a key role in helping plants colonise land. The most common mycorrhizal partnership involves arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which provide plants with essential soil nutrients in exchange for sugars produced by the plant through photosynthesis. These fungi are found in nearly all plant species and are fundamental to plant and soil health, and wider ecosystem functioning. I investigate how environmental change over deep time has shaped mycorrhizal symbioses, and how these partnerships influence ecosystem functioning today. My work explores the evolution, structure, and function of ancient plant‑fungal mutualisms and their roles in global carbon and nutrient cycling, particularly under pressures such as climate change and soil degradation.
A key emphasis of my research is understanding diversity within mycorrhizal associations, and how different fungal lineages exchange nutrients and carbon with host plants in varied contexts. I investigate how these mutualistic interactions operate in different plant groups, ranging from liverworts and orchids to vascular plants, and how fungal networks may facilitate resource sharing or plant-plant signalling across ecosystems.
My approach integrates ecophysiological measurements with isotope tracing and metabolomics, enabling a detailed understanding of carbon-for-nutrient exchange and the functional roles of symbiont diversity in soil communities. This work has revealed how fungal networks can mediate nutrient distribution and foster resilience in plant communities facing biotic and environmental challenges.
My research aims to:
- Characterise the functional diversity of fungal symbionts, including lesser-studied lineages, and their contributions to plant nutrition, carbon storage, and soil biogeochemical cycling.
- Examine how ecological networks of mycorrhizal fungi modulate plant interactions, nutrient flows, and community dynamics in changing environments.
- Inform sustainable land-management and agricultural practices by improving understanding of how mycorrhizal communities can be harnessed to enhance nutrient uptake and carbon sequestration at landscape scales.
- Publications
-
Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- Phenology and function in lycopod–Mucoromycotina symbiosis. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
- Aphid herbivory drives asymmetry in carbon for nutrient exchange between plants and an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus. Current Biology, 30(10), 1801-1808.e5. View this article in WRRO
- Carbon for nutrient exchange between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and wheat varies according to cultivar and changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Global Change Biology, 26(3), 1725-1738. View this article in WRRO
- A commercial arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum increases root colonisation across wheat cultivars but does not increase assimilation of mycorrhiza-acquired nutrients. Plants, People, Planet. View this article in WRRO
- Mucoromycotina fine root endophyte fungi form nutritional mutualisms with vascular plants. Plant Physiology, 181(2), 565-577. View this article in WRRO
- Functional complementarity of ancient plant‐fungal mutualisms: contrasting nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon exchanges between Mucoromycotina and Glomeromycotina fungal symbionts of liverworts. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
- Unity in diversity: structural and functional insights into the ancient partnerships between plants and fungi. New Phytologist, 220(4), 996-1011. View this article in WRRO
- A mycorrhizal revolution. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 44, 1-6. View this article in WRRO
- Nutrient acquisition by symbiotic fungi governs Palaeozoic climate transition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1739). View this article in WRRO
All publications
Journal articles
- What’s in a name? The case for standardised nomenclature for mutualistic Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’. Journal Of Experimental Botany, eraf210.
- Preferential nitrogen and carbon exchange dynamics in Mucoromycotina “fine root endophyte”-plant symbiosis. Current Biology.
- Plant pests influence the movement of plant-fixed carbon and fungal-acquired nutrients through arbuscular mycorrhizal networks. Functional Ecology.
- The functionality of arbuscular mycorrhizal networks across
scales of experimental complexity and ecological relevance. Functional Ecology.
- Functional Ecology is moving to open access. Functional Ecology, 38(7), 1462-1463.
- Geographic range of plants drives long-term climate change. Nature Communications.
- Fungal symbiont diversity drives growth of Holcus lanatusdepending on soil nutrient availability. Functional Ecology.
- Can mycorrhizal fungi fix farming? Benefits and limitations of applying them to agroecosystems. The Biochemist, 45(3), 2-7.
- Mycorrhizal mycelium as a global carbon pool. Current Biology(33), 560-573.
- Sequence of introduction determines the success of contrasting root symbionts and their host. Applied Soil Ecology, 182, 104733-104733.
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal‐induced tolerance is determined by fungal identity and pathogen density. Plants, People, Planet.
- Climate windows of opportunity for plant expansion during the Phanerozoic. Nature Communications, 13(1).
- Impacts of aphid herbivory on mycorrhizal growth responses across three cultivars of wheat. Plants, People, Planet.
- Altered properties and structures of root exudate polysaccharides in a root hairless mutant of barley. Plant Physiology.
- The potential role of Mucoromycotina 'fine root endophytes' in plant nitrogen nutrition.. Physiologia Plantarum.
- Variation in mycorrhizal growth response among a spring wheat mapping population shows potential to breed for symbiotic benefit. Food and Energy Security.
- Disruption of carbon for nutrient exchange between potato and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhanced cyst nematode fitness and host pest tolerance.. New Phytol.
- Critical research challenges facing Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
- Mycorrhizal mediation of sustainable development goals. Plants, People, Planet, 3(5), 430-432. View this article in WRRO
- The emerging threat of human‐use antifungals in sustainable and circular agriculture schemes. Plants, People, Planet.
- Advances in understanding of mycorrhizal-like associations in bryophytes. Bryophyte Diversity and Evolution, 43(1), 284-306.
- Carbon for nutrient exchange between Lycopodiella inundata and Mucoromycotina fine root endophytes is unresponsive to high atmospheric CO2.. Mycorrhiza. View this article in WRRO
- The influence of competing root symbionts on below‐ground plant resource allocation. Ecology and Evolution, 11(7), 2997-3003.
- Cultivar‐dependent increases in mycorrhizal nutrient acquisition by barley in response to elevated CO2. Plants, People, Planet. View this article in WRRO
- Phenology and function in lycopod–Mucoromycotina symbiosis. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
- Cereal root exudates contain highly structurally complex polysaccharides with soil‐binding properties. The Plant Journal. View this article in WRRO
- Aphid herbivory drives asymmetry in carbon for nutrient exchange between plants and an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus. Current Biology, 30(10), 1801-1808.e5. View this article in WRRO
- The distribution and evolution of fungal symbioses in ancient lineages of land plants. Mycorrhiza, 30(1), 23-49. View this article in WRRO
- Carbon for nutrient exchange between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and wheat varies according to cultivar and changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Global Change Biology, 26(3), 1725-1738. View this article in WRRO
- Mycorrhizas for a changing world: Sustainability, conservation,
and society. Plants, People, Planet, 2(2), 98-103. View this article in WRRO
- A commercial arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum increases root colonisation across wheat cultivars but does not increase assimilation of mycorrhiza-acquired nutrients. Plants, People, Planet. View this article in WRRO
- Evolution and networks in ancient and widespread symbioses between Mucoromycotina and liverworts. Mycorrhiza, 29(6), 551-565. View this article in WRRO
- One thousand plant transcriptomes and the phylogenomics of green plants. Nature, 574, 679-685. View this article in WRRO
- Mucoromycotina fine root endophyte fungi form nutritional mutualisms with vascular plants. Plant Physiology, 181(2), 565-577. View this article in WRRO
- Functional complementarity of ancient plant‐fungal mutualisms: contrasting nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon exchanges between Mucoromycotina and Glomeromycotina fungal symbionts of liverworts. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
- Unity in diversity: structural and functional insights into the ancient partnerships between plants and fungi. New Phytologist, 220(4), 996-1011. View this article in WRRO
- Ancient plants with ancient fungi: liverworts associate with early-diverging arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1888). View this article in WRRO
- A mycorrhizal revolution. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 44, 1-6. View this article in WRRO
- A quantitative method for the high throughput screening for the soil adhesion properties of plant and microbial polysaccharides and exudates. Plant and Soil, 428(1-2), 57-65. View this article in WRRO
- From rhizoids to roots? Experimental evidence of mutualism between liverworts and ascomycete fungi. Annals of Botany, 121(2), 221-227. View this article in WRRO
- Nutrient acquisition by symbiotic fungi governs Palaeozoic climate transition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1739). View this article in WRRO
- Xyloglucan is released by plants and promotes soil particle aggregation. New Phytologist, 217(3), 1128-1136. View this article in WRRO
- A plant-feeding nematode indirectly increases the fitness of an aphid. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8. View this article in WRRO
- Are mycorrhizal fungi our sustainable saviours? Considerations for achieving food security. Journal of Ecology, 105(4), 921-929. View this article in WRRO
- Pteridophyte fungal associations : current knowledge and future perspectives. Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 54(6), 666-678. View this article in WRRO
- Katie J. Field.. New Phytologist, 212(4), 836-837. View this article in WRRO
- Functional analysis of liverworts in dual symbiosis with Glomeromycota and Mucoromycotina fungi under a simulated Palaeozoic CO2 decline. The ISME Journal, 10(6), 1514-1526. View this article in WRRO
- Stomatal density and aperture in non-vascular land plants are non-responsive to above-ambient atmospheric CO2concentrations. Annals of Botany, 115(6), 915-922. View this article in WRRO
- From mycoheterotrophy to mutualism: mycorrhizal specificity and functioning in Ophioglossum vulgatumsporophytes. New Phytologist, 205(4), 1492-1502. View this article in WRRO
- Symbiotic options for the conquest of land. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 30(8), 477-486.
- First evidence of mutualism between ancient plant lineages (Haplomitriopsida liverworts) and Mucoromycotina fungi and its response to simulated Palaeozoic changes in atmospheric CO2. New Phytologist, 205(2), 743-756. View this article in WRRO
- Best of both worlds: Simultaneous high-light and shade-tolerance adaptations within individual leaves of the living stone Lithops aucampiae. PLoS ONE. View this article in WRRO
- Metabolomics in plant environmental physiology. Journal of Experimental Botany.
- Contrasting arbuscular mycorrhizal responses of vascular and non-vascular plants to a simulated Palaeozoic CO₂ decline.. Nat Commun, 3, 835.
- Environmental metabolomics links genotype to phenotype and predicts genotype abundance in wild plant populations. Physiologia Plantarum.
- Metabolomic and physiological responses reveal multi-phasic acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana to chronic UV radiation.. Plant Cell Environ, 32(10), 1377-1389.
- The nucleotidase/phosphatase SAL1 is a negative regulator of drought tolerance in Arabidopsis. The Plant Journal, 58(2), 299-317.
- The nucleotidase/phosphatase SAL1 is a negative regulator of drought tolerance in Arabidopsis. Plant Journal, 58(2), 299-317.
- Azole antifungal contaminants disrupt mycorrhizal function and risk agricultural sustainability. PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET.
- Impact of zinc on arbuscular mycorrhizal-mediated nutrient acquisition in urban horticulture. iScience.
- Photosynthate transfer from an autotrophic orchid to conspecific heterotrophic protocorms through a common mycorrhizal network. New Phytologist.
- Innovation in plant and soil sciences to tackle critical global challenges. Plants People Planet.
- Phytophagy impacts the quality and quantity of plant carbon resources acquired by mutualistic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.. Nature Communications.
- Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’: a new molecular model for plant–fungal mutualisms?. Trends in Plant Science.
- Herbivore-driven disruption of arbuscular mycorrhizal carbon-for-nutrient exchange is ameliorated by neighboring plants. Current Biology.
- Direct nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon exchanges between Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophyte’ fungi and a flowering plant in novel monoxenic cultures. New Phytologist.
- A single amino acid transporter controls the uptake of priming-inducing beta-amino acids and the associated trade-off between induced resistance and plant growth.. Plant Cell.
- Integrated ‘Omics’, Targeted Metabolite and Single-cell Analyses of Arctic Snow Algae Functionality and Adaptability. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6. View this article in WRRO
Chapters
- The use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to improve root function and nutrient-use efficiency, Understanding and improving crop root function (pp. 493-530). Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing
- Magnitude, Dynamics, and Control of the Carbon Flow to Mycorrhizas, Mycorrhizal Mediation of Soil (pp. 375-393). Elsevier
- Magnitude, Dynamics, and Control of the Carbon Flow to Mycorrhizas, Mycorrhizal Mediation of Soil: Fertility, Structure, and Carbon Storage (pp. 375-393).
- Reappraising the origin of mycorrhizas, Molecular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis (pp. 21-32). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Conference proceedings papers
- Plant-parasitic nematodes are SWEET. MOLECULAR PLANT-MICROBE INTERACTIONS, Vol. 37(5) (pp 28-28)
- A simplified global vegetation model for deep time.. Goldschmidt2021 abstracts, 4 July 2021 - 9 July 2021.
- Does genetic diversity in plants matter? An environmental metabolomic approach. COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY A-MOLECULAR & INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY, Vol. 150(3) (pp S190-S190)
- Does genetic diversity in plants matter? An environmental metabolomic approach. COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY A-MOLECULAR & INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY, Vol. 150(3) (pp S197-S198)
- Molecular Evidence of Mucoromycotina “Fine Root Endophyte” Fungi in Agricultural Crops. The 1st International Electronic Conference on Plant Science
Preprints
- Common symbiotic signalling pathway not essential for formation of functional mutualisms with endophytic fungi, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Preferential assimilation, metabolism, and transfer of organic nitrogen to host plants by Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Climate windows of opportunity for plant expansion during the Phanerozoic, Research Square Platform LLC. View this article in WRRO
- A soil-binding polysaccharide complex released from root hairs functions in rhizosheath formation, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Carbon for nutrient exchange between the lycophyte, Lycopodiella inundata and Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’ is unresponsive to high atmospheric CO2 concentration, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Phenology and function in lycopod-Mucoromycotina symbiosis, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Mucoromycotina fine root endophyte fungi form nutritional mutualisms with vascular plants, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Phenology and function in lycopod–Mucoromycotina symbiosis. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
- Professional activities and memberships
-
- Research Cluster Lead, Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil
- Deputy Chair, Research Committee B, BBSRC
- Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Plants, People, Planet
- Senior Editor, Functional Ecology
- Gatsby Plant Science Network Mentor