Phytobiomes Alliance Newsletter – April 2026
In this issue: International Phytobiomes Conference 2026, USCCN Conference 2026, upcoming webinars, Alliance news, Coordinating Committee member updates and media partnerships.
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International Phytobiomes Conference
📅 3–5 November 2026
📍 Queen’s Landing Hotel, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
🎯 Cultivating Phytobiomes: From Systems Science to Agricultural Innovation
💰 Early bird deadline: 4 September 2026
The International Phytobiomes Conference is the premier gathering for the global phytobiomes community. The 2026 edition will bring together leading researchers, industry R&D teams, and innovators to explore the full complexity of phytobiome systems – from fundamental science to field-ready solutions – across topics including plant-microbe-environment interactions, soil health, precision agriculture, biological products, AI and modeling, and regulatory science.
Shape the program – submit your abstract
This is your opportunity to share your work with an international audience of scientists and industry experts, spark new collaborations, and contribute to defining the future of phytobiomes research and innovation.
We welcome contributions from across the spectrum – whether you are working on foundational questions or translational applications. Submit an abstract for an oral presentation or a poster flash talk by 28 August.
Early-career researchers: don’t miss the Early Career Award – applications are also due on 28 August.
→ Register and submit your abstract
USCCN Conference 2026
📅 31 July 2026 | Co-located with Plant Health 2026 (APS)
📍 Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, RI, USA
🎯 From Preservation to Innovation: Connecting Microbial Collections to Advance Science
💰 Travel Stipend application deadline: 1 May 2026
Organized by the U.S. Culture Collection Network – an NSF-funded Research Coordination Network led by the Phytobiomes Alliance – this conference will connect culture collection managers, researchers, and industry partners to share updates, address challenges, highlight successes, and define priorities for the field.
Alliance Webinars
All webinars are free and held at 11:00 AM Eastern. All sessions are recorded and posted on the Alliance YouTube channel.
24 June — Seed microbiota: An important factor in crop establishment
Presented by Matthieu Barret, INRAE, France
→ Register here
22 July — Navigating the regulatory complexity of microbial interventions
US and EU regulatory perspectives
16 September — Linking Agricultural Management Practices to Carbon Cycling Traits: Implications for Soil Health Assessment
Presented by Elizabeth Rieke, Soil Health Institute, USA
→ Register here
14 October — Impact of animal grazing on soil biodiversity and microbial communities
Organized by the Alliance Animal Microbiomes Working Group
Presented by Fiona Walsh, Maynooth University, Ireland
9 December — Update from the MICROBE EU project
Registration links for the July, October, and December webinars will be shared in the coming weeks.
→ Interested in presenting? Contact us
Alliance Updates
New Coordinating Committee Members
Welcome to:
– Tanja Kostic (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria) – MICROBE project
– Ana Portugal Melo (MIRRI-ERIC, Portugal) – Microbes-4-Climate project
– Neha Potnis (Auburn University, USA) – USCCN project
– Maggie Wagner (University of Kansas, USA) – Complex trait evolution (topical leader)
Microbes-4-Climate (M4C) General Assembly, 3–5 February 2026, Braga, Portugal
Communications Director Isabelle Caugant represented the Alliance at the project General Assembly. The event deepened the ties between the US culture collection communities and European microbiome research initiatives, reinforcing transatlantic collaboration on microbiome infrastructure for climate solutions.
Plant and Animal Genome Conference 2026, San Diego, CA, USA
The Alliance organized two workshops at PAG 2026, showcasing the breadth of phytobiomes research:
→ The Uniqueness and Commonalities between Plant, Animal, and Soil Microbiomes
2025 Annual Report
Highlights from the Alliance activities, projects, and working groups in 2025.
Media Partnerships with Event Organizers
10th Microbiome AgBioTech Summit 2026
8-10 June 2026 | Raleigh, NC, USA
Register here with the code MPPhytoA7198810 to save 10%
With tougher formulation demands, complex regulatory expectations and variable performances raising the bar for future microbiome innovation, the agbiological industry must answer with novel, scalable products, that are effective in the field.
That is why we are delighted to invite you to the 10th Microbiome AgBioTech Summit (June 8-10, 2026 | Raleigh, NC).
This decade milestone edition will unite the complete agbiotech value chain, to forge new collaborations, confront pressing hurdles in microbial discovery, product development, and commercialization, and bridge the gap between biological innovation and scalable, trusted agricultural solutions.
Exciting Additions for 2026 Include…
A broader, more integrated agenda.
→ Dive into sessions covering perspectives from discovery, formulation and field validation through to regulatory strategy and scale-up.
A wider range of industry voices and cross-value chain representation.
→ Join experts spanning agbiotech giants such as BASF and Syngenta, to emerging start-ups like Switch Bioworks, Robigo and Pivot Bio, and key distributors including GrowMark, Nutrien Ag Solutions and Wilbur-Ellis.
A more structured networking format.
→ Designed to foster meaningful collaborations and formulate stronger partnerships, this year’s program will ensure you walk away with the right connections and commercial partners.Together let’s drive the agbiological products of the next decade and beyond!
US Biostimulants Summit 2026
5-6 August 2026 | Raleigh, NC, USA
ACI’s US Biostimulants Summit 2026
will take place on 05–06 August in Raleigh, North Carolina, and examines how biological products move from scientific validation to commercial use across United States agriculture.
As the sector continues to expand, the discussion is increasingly shifting away from early product claims toward a more practical question: how biological inputs are evaluated, regulated and adopted within real crop systems.
The conference brings together biostimulant producers, fertiliser manufacturers, distributors, advisers, researchers and regulatory stakeholders to examine the factors shaping the next phase of development for the sector.
→ For More Information & Registration: rbaryah@acieu.net
Our Sponsors
The Phytobiomes Alliance is sponsored by Valent BioSciences, Eversole Associates, INRAE, Mosaic Biosciences, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NewLeaf Symbiotics, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Pivot Bio, Purdue University College of Agriculture, Texas tech University, the Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research, Abrinca Genomics, Earth Microbial and Switch Bioworks.
To learn more about the Alliance, visit phytobiomesalliance.org and follow us on X and on LinkedIn.