Rate My Professor Maria Harrison

Maria J. Harrison is the William H. Crocker Professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and an Adjunct Professor in the Section of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology within the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University. She studied microbiology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and obtained her Ph.D. in plant molecular biology from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1987. Harrison conducted postdoctoral research and served as a Staff Scientist at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Oklahoma, where she initiated studies on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis. In 2003, she joined the Boyce Thompson Institute, advancing her investigations into plant-fungal interactions. Her research centers on the developmental and functional mechanisms of AM symbioses, which enable over 70% of land plants to form mutualistic associations with soil fungi for enhanced nutrient acquisition, particularly phosphorus. Using the model legume Medicago truncatula and AM fungi such as Rhizophagus irregularis, Diversispora epigaea, and Gigaspora gigantea, Harrison's lab integrates molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, and genomics to dissect processes including fungal accommodation within root cells, signaling pathways, lipid provisioning, and phosphate transport across symbiotic interfaces.

Harrison's seminal contributions include the identification of a Medicago truncatula phosphate transporter essential for acquiring phosphate from AM fungi (Plant Cell, 2002) and a symbiosis-specific transporter indispensable for symbiosis maintenance (PNAS, 2007). Other landmark publications encompass genes conserved for AM symbiosis (Nature Plants, 2016), receptor-associated kinases controlling lipid transfer in symbiosis (Science, 2024), and spatiotemporal phosphate dynamics in mycorrhizal roots (New Phytologist, 2022). Her work has profoundly influenced understanding of plant nutrient uptake and symbiosis regulation, with implications for crop phosphorus efficiency and sustainable agriculture. Harrison has received prestigious honors, including election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2019, the Royal Society in 2024, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship in 2012, the American Academy of Microbiology Fellowship in 2013, and the American Society of Plant Biologists Dennis R. Hoagland Award in 2015. She has served on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions and editorial boards for New Phytologist, Annual Review of Plant Biology, and eLife.