Anathi Magadlela is a plant molecular biologist, lecturer and academic researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Life Sciences. He has a BSc in Biological Sciences from Walter Sisulu University of Science, and an MSc and a PhD in Botany from Stellenbosch University. His current research, on the functional and evolutionary aspects of plant-soil-microbe interactions during nutrient stress, seeks to assess phenotypic and molecular adaptations of nutrient-stressed legumes, to elucidate the unique genes and proteins involved in nutrient soil adaptations of legumes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria.