Tomáš Figura

I am a postdoctoral researcher fascinated by thieves and theft. That is why I study plants that feed on carbon stolen from fungi - mycoheterotrophs and mixotrophs. My current project here at Naturalis aims to reveal convergently evolved traits of different mycoheterotrophs spread across the plant phylogeny. I want to know if evolution repeats itself - if evolution can reinvent the wheel. To do this, I use a range of molecular methods, in vitro cultivation systems and stable isotope abundance analyses.

Keywords

Mycorrhizal symbiosis, Mycoheterotrophy, Mixotrophy, Orchid mycorrhiza, Arbuscular mycorrhiza, In vitro, seed germination, Stable Isotopes

Research
interest

Mycoheterotrophy is a strange form of nutrition where plants parasitise on fungal carbon. Mixotrophy is when part of the carbon comes from the plant's own photosynthesis and part from fungi.

As an undergraduate, I focused on orchid germination. I obtained my PhD in Prague in 2021. I have found that orchid seeds are highly sensitive to extremely low concentrations of nitrate. Nitrate can inhibit orchid populations directly, but also indirectly through their mycorrhizal fungi. My love for orchids has not vanished - they are still important model plants for me, but now equally with pyroloids and arbuscular-mycorrhiza-associated tropical mycoheterotrophs.

Current
topics

In general ecophysiology and evolution of mycoheterotrophic and mixotrophic plants, plant-fungal interactions, but specifically the following topics

Convergent evolution of mycoheterotrophic plants throughout the plant kingdom
Carbon gain of mycoheterotrophic plants
Toxicity of nitrate for mycoheterotrophic plants
Survival of albino mixotrophic plants
Why are invasive orchids successful
Flora of the White Carpathians
In vitro cultivation of not only mycohetero(mixo)trophic plants

Key
publications

Yagame, T., Figura, T., Tanaka, E., Selosse, M. A., & Yukawa, T. (2024). Mycobiont identity and light conditions affect belowground morphology and physiology of a mixotrophic orchid Cremastra variabilis (Orchidaceae). Mycorrhiza, 1-13.
Boivin, S., Bourceret, A., Maurice, K., Laurent-Webb, L., Figura T., Bourion, J., Nespoulous, J., Domergue O., Chantreuil C, Boucksim, H.,Selosse, M-A., Fiema Z., Botte E., Nehme L. and Ducousso, M. (2023). Revealing human
impact on natural ecosystems through soil bacterial DNA sampled from an archaeological site. Environmental Microbiology, 1–13.
Minasiewicz, J., Zwolicky, A., Figura, T., Novotná, A., Jersáková, J., Selosse, M-A. (2022). Stoichiometry of Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus is Closely Linked to Trophic Modes in Orchids. BMC Plant Biology 23: 1–11
Selosse, M-A., Petrolli, R., Mujica, MI., Laurent, L., Perez-Lamarque, B., Figura, T., Bourceret, A., Jacquemyn, H., Li, T., Gao, J., Minasiewicz, J, Martos, F. (2022). The Waiting Room Hypothesis revisited by orchids: Were orchid mycorrhizal fungi recruited among root endophytes? Annals of Botany 129 (3): 259–270
Figura, T., Tylová, E., Jersáková, J., Vohník, M., Ponert, J. (2021). Fungal symbionts may modulate nitrate inhibitory effect on orchid seed germination. Mycorrhiza, 31 (2):231-241
Figura, T., Weiser, M., Ponert, J. (2020). Orchid seed sensitivity to nitrate reflects habitat preferences and soil nitrate content, Plant Biology, 22 (1): 21-29

For all publications click here

Teaching
activities

time to time I help with teaching of Mycorrhizal par of Plant physiology practical course at Charles University, Prague, I am also supervising students so any other potential students feel free to join!