About

Angela D. Kent is a Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She earned her B.A. in Biology from Grinnell College in 1992, followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996 and 2000, respectively. Her academic training in microbial genetics has equipped her to study microbes across diverse ecological settings. Professor Kent's research is driven by a longstanding interest in microbiology and genetics, with a focus on projects that have practical applications to improve environmental management, animal health, and plant productivity. She is fascinated by the myriad ways microbes influence terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, particularly their roles in nutrient cycling and biogeochemical transformations. Utilizing molecular biology tools, her work characterizes the diversity and structure of microbial communities in natural systems and examines how these communities relate to environmental drivers and ecosystem functions. Her research aims to enhance the understanding of microbial ecology to better predict the impacts of human activities on microbial-mediated processes and to apply this knowledge toward improving the health and sustainability of both natural and managed ecosystems. Through her teaching and research, Professor Kent shares her enthusiasm for microbial ecology and its critical role in ecosystem function.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Agroforestry
• Biotechnology
• Environmental science
• Agronomy
• Economics
• Natural resource economics
• Genetics

Selected publications

• Data for Microbiome Differences in Sugarcane and Metabolically Engineered Oilcane Accessions and Their Implications for Bioenergy Production

  Open MIND · 2026-01-01

  dataset

  This project aims to study the microbial structure and potential functions of bacterial and fungal microbiomes in leaves, stems, roots, rhizospheres, and bulk soils of energy crops (oilcane) grown in greenhouses.

  DOI

• Lost and found: Rediscovering microbiome-associated phenotypes that reshape agricultural sustainability

  Science Advances · 2026-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Modern agriculture faces an urgent need to improve nutrient use efficiency while reducing environmental impacts. Here, we show that ancestral traits controlling rhizosphere microbiome functions can be reintroduced into elite maize through targeted teosinte introgressions. Using near-isogenic lines, we mapped microbiome-associated phenotypes (MAPs) derived from teosinte that suppress nitrification and denitrification-key microbial processes contributing to nitrogen loss. These introgressions altered root exudate chemistry, resulting in distinct microbial assemblies and enhanced nitrogen retention. We identified candidate loci and exudate metabolites responsible for suppressive activity and demonstrated their functional effects in vitro. These findings reveal a genetic and biochemical basis for rewilding microbiome-mediated ecosystem services in crops, offering a scalable path toward sustainable nutrient management in global agriculture.

  PublisherDOI

• Plant-Nitrifier Interactions in Topsoil and Subsoil

  Illinois Data Bank · 2026-01-01

  datasetOpen access

  Plants can influence soil microbes through resource acquisition and interference competition, with consequences for ecosystem function such as nitrification. However, how plants alter soil conditions to influence nitrifiers and nitrification rates remains poorly understood, especially in the subsoil. Here, coupling the 15N isotopic pool dilution technique, high throughput sequencing and in situ soil O2 monitoring, we investigated how a deep-rooted perennial grass, miscanthus, versus an adjacent shallow-rooted turfgrass reference shapes nitrifier assembly and function along 1 m soil profiles. In topsoil, the suppression of ammonia (NH3) oxidizing archaea (AOA) and gross nitrification rates in miscanthus relative to the reference likely resulted from nitrifiers being outcompeted by plant roots and heterotrophic bacteria for ammonium (NH4+). The stronger tripartite competition under miscanthus may have been caused in part by the lower soil organic matter (SOM) content, which supported lower gross nitrogen (N) mineralization, the major soil process that produces NH4+. In contrast, below 10 cm soil depth, significantly greater gross nitrification rates were observed in miscanthus compared to the reference. This was likely driven by the significantly lower oxygen (O2) in miscanthus than reference subsoil, which selected against aerobic heterotrophic bacteria but in favor of AOA. Overall, we found that plants can regulate AOA community structure and function through different mechanisms in topsoil and subsoil, with suppression of nitrification in topsoil and enhancement of nitrification in subsoil.

  PublisherDOI

• Navigating nitrogen sustainability with microbiome-associated phenotypes

  Trends in Plant Science · 2025-03-11 · 8 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  Crop microbiomes promote plant health through various mechanisms, including nutrient provisioning. However, agriculture neglected the importance of these microbiome-associated phenotypes (MAPs) in conventional management approaches originating from the Green Revolution. Green Revolution innovations, such as nitrogen fertilizers and high-yielding germplasm, supported an increase in global crop yields. Yet these advances also led to many environmental issues, including disruptions in microbially mediated nitrogen transformations that have reduced reliance on microbiomes for sustainable nitrogen acquisition. Overcoming the challenges introduced by the Green Revolution requires a shift toward ecologically informed agronomic strategies that incorporate MAPs into breeding and management decisions. Agriculture in the Anthropocene needs to mindfully manage crop microbiomes to decouple agrochemical inputs from profitable yields, minimizing the environmental repercussions of modern agriculture.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Signatures of local nitrogen adaptation in the <i>Brachypodium distachyon</i> root microbiome

  New Phytologist · 2025-10-29 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Plants associate with diverse microbiomes that impact their fitness, yet the contribution of the microbiome to plant adaptation is uncertain. As plant recruitment of its microbiome can be both highly variable and genetically determined, we hypothesized this recruitment process may be the result of adaptive evolution, and contributing to plant local adaptation. We investigated the evolution and adaptive benefit of plant-microbiome recruitment by characterizing the rhizosphere communities across a genotypic panel of Brachypodium distachyon in a common garden experiment. By linking microbial communities to their host genotype's historic environment, we identified signatures of selection on plant-microbiome recruitment. Plant-microbiome composition was significantly correlated with the host genotype's historic environment, with enrichment of microbial traits aligned to local resource conditions. For example, genotypes from low-nitrogen environments recruited communities enriched in nitrogen acquisition traits. In a complementary experiment evaluating plant nitrogen response, these same genotypes were well-adapted to low-nitrogen environments, contingent on the presence of key nitrogen-cycling microbes. These results suggest that local adaptation in plants may partially be mediated by recruitment of beneficial microbiomes. This perspective suggests that plant adaptation may be an emergent property of host-microbe interactions, where evolutionary responses favor traits that promote recruitment of locally beneficial microbiomes.

  PublisherDOI

• Nitrogen addition alters interactions between ectomycorrhizal host trees and fungal communities in a mixed mycorrhizal tropical rainforest

  Plant and Soil · 2025-03-04 · 3 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Interactions between soil source, flooding, and herbivory shape tomato plant volatile emissions and rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities

  Plant and Soil · 2025-08-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Background Plants are exposed to diverse abiotic and biotic stressors during their lifecycle, including flooding and insect herbivory. To mitigate stressors, plants utilize several “cry for help” strategies, including producing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) aboveground and modifying microbial communities belowground. Although we have built strong understanding of plants “cry for help” strategies to individually occurring stressors, our knowledge about how these strategies are impacted by simultaneously-occurring stressors remains limited. Aims We examined the effects of flooding, insect herbivory, and their combination on aboveground VOC emissions and belowground rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities and assessed how soil source influences these “cry for help” plant strategies. Methods In a greenhouse experiment, tomato plants grown in four soils sourced from different locations were subjected to treatments representing a full factorial combination of ± flooding and ± herbivory by Manduca sexta . VOCs were collected using the solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) technique, and plant growth parameters were recorded. Soil physicochemical characteristics were examined. Bacterial and fungal rhizosphere community changes were assessed using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and sequencing of the fungal ITS2 region respectively. Results Flooding was the primary driver of VOC emissions. The stress combination of flooding and insect herbivory significantly increased total VOCs. Soil characteristics, particularly iron, manganese, and ammonium nitrogen shaped VOCs profiles. Belowground, soil source was the dominant factor shaping bacterial and fungal communities. Conclusion Interactions between soil source, flooding, and insect herbivory shape above and belowground tomato plant “cry for help” strategies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Optimizing isotopic measurement of potential free‐living nitrogen fixation in soil

  Soil Science Society of America Journal · 2025-11-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Direct measurements of free‐living nitrogen fixation (FLNF) using 15 N‐labeled dinitrogen ( 15 N 2 ) have been complicated by a lack of standardization regarding soil sampling and storage, and because key incubation parameters have yet to be systematically optimized. With the aim of developing a standardized protocol for laboratory assay of carbon (C)‐stimulated FLNF, studies with four Illinois soils were conducted with respect to sampling depth, storage condition and period, surface exposure, moisture content, C source and pH, phosphorus (P) amendment, and incubation period. Among the major findings, diazotrophic activity was greatest with surface (0−7.5 cm) sampling, and storage effects were minimized when field‐moist samples were kept at room temperature (25°C) or in a refrigerator (5°C) for ≤1 day with or without sieving (&lt;2 mm). In the presence of exogenous C (4 mg C g −1 dry soil), the rate of 15 N 2 fixation was maximized at ≥200% water‐holding capacity, with a 3‐day incubation period, and by increasing atmospheric exposure with the use of a shallow soil container. A simulated corn ( Zea mays L.) root exudate was identified as the optimal C source, regardless of a divergent preference observed for soil samples collected before and after a 6‐month interval. By standardizing several key parameters pertinent to the measurement of C‐stimulated FLNF, the work reported can help facilitate research to define the ecological importance and agricultural potential of a process that has largely been unexplored in the soil N cycle.

  PublisherDOI

• Contrasting rhizosphere nitrogen dynamics in Andropogoneae grasses

  The Plant Journal · 2025-07-01 · 1 citations

  article

  SUMMARY Nitrogen (N) fertilization in crop production significantly impacts ecosystems, often disrupting natural plant–microbe–soil interactions and causing environmental pollution. This study tested the hypothesis that diverse species adapting independently to various environments might exhibit a wide range of rhizosphere nutrient management strategies, and some of them may be conducive to an efficient N economy for crops. We analyzed the N cycle in the rhizospheres of 36 Andropogoneae grass species related to maize and sorghum and observed significant phylogenetic variation among their impacts on N availability and losses. All three annual species examined, including sorghum and maize, function as N ‘Conservationists’, reducing soil nitrification potential and conserving NH 4 + . In contrast, seven of the assayed perennial species enhance nitrification and leaching (‘Leachers’). Four other species exhibit similar nitrification stimulation effects but limited NO 3 − losses (‘Nitrate Keepers’). We complemented the controlled phenotypic evaluation with an evolutionary‐ecological analysis of the same species. We identified several soil characteristics associated with the phylogenetic variation in rhizosphere N dynamics across grasses and highlighted the crucial roles of a few transporter genes in soil N management and utilization. In addition to the ecological and genetic insights, these findings offer valuable guidelines for future maize breeding efforts to enhance agricultural N efficiency and sustainability.

  PublisherDOI

• Genotypic Variation in Miscanthus × giganteus Influences the Structure and Function of Soil Nitrifiers

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: MO: Forces Driving Microbial Community Diversity and Composition in Humic Lakes

  NSF · $780k · 2007–2013

• DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Effects of phytoplankton on bacterial community structure across varying temperature and light contexts

  NSF · $15k · 2011–2013

Frequent coauthors

• Jeffrey W. Matthews

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  30 shared

• Eric W. Triplett

  University of Florida

  26 shared

• Alonso Favela

  University of Arizona

  23 shared

• Jizhong Zhou

  Tsinghua University

  22 shared

• Wendy H. Yang

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  22 shared

• Ariane L. Peralta

  East Carolina University

  22 shared

• Julie L. Zilles

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  18 shared

• Chris S. Eckley

  Environmental Protection Agency

  18 shared

Education

• PhD, Bacteriology

  University of Wisconsin Madison

  2000