Rate My Professor Lemeng Dong

Dr. Lemeng Dong is an Assistant Professor in the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences at the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Science, where he leads the Metabolism Lab. His research elucidates the molecular mechanisms underlying belowground interkingdom chemical interactions between plants and soil microorganisms, examining influences from evolution, nutrient availability such as phosphate starvation, and biotic stresses including herbivore attacks. Dong employs comparative omics approaches—transcriptome, metabolome, metagenome, and metatranscriptome analyses—across diverse plant families and species, with a focus on wild and domesticated cucurbits and genetic variations. Key initiatives include the MiCROP project on signaling molecule biosynthesis and perception under phosphate starvation spanning five plant families, collaborations with Prof. Harro Bouwmeester on strigolactones in phosphate starvation responses, and investigations into plant-nematode interactions via signaling molecules, nitrogen, and microbes. Plant metabolites central to his work exhibit pharmaceutical activity and roles in crop protection through defense or communication, addressing soil-borne diseases and rhizosphere biology.

Dong holds a PhD in natural products and plant physiology from Wageningen University & Research, a Master's degree in medicinal plants from Beijing Forestry University, and a Bachelor's degree in horticultural science from Hebei Agricultural University (2002-2006). He has served as Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam since October 2017. His scholarship encompasses over 70 publications, including recent contributions like 'The chemical interaction between plants and the rhizosphere microbiome' (Trends in Plant Science, 2025, with H. Bouwmeester et al.), 'Adaptive and metabolic convergence in rhizosphere and gut microbiomes' (Microbiome, 2025, with D. Ilyaskina et al.), 'Manipulation of a strigolactone transporter in tomato confers resistance to the parasitic weed broomrape' (Innovation, 2025, with X. Ban et al.), 'Root microbiota regulates tiller number in rice' (Cell, 2025, with J. Zhang et al.), and 'Cycloartenol-derived triterpenoid pathway genes alter the root metabolome and microbiome in tomato' (Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 2025, with A. Guerrieri et al.). With 2230 citations on Google Scholar, Dong's research advances rhizosphere signaling, strigolactone biosynthesis, solanoeclepin A as a cyst nematode hatching factor, and metabolic recruitment of beneficial microbes. In 2023, he was awarded an NWO Vidi grant through the MiCRop tenure track program.