Research Area 2
Plant Microbiota Metabolic Networks and Edaphic Adaptation
Plant fitness in natural environments and agricultural crop yields are influenced by plant-associated microbiota and soil type. The composition and activity of plant microbiota are determined by nutritional (mineral nutrients), metabolic (primary and specialized metabolites), and edaphic (physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil) factors interacting with different plant genotypes. This Research Area investigates the contribution of microbiota to plant performance and edaphic adaptation. RA2 will identify genetic, molecular, and biochemical mechanisms governing the structure, activity, and function of plant-associated microbial communities in the rhizosphere and phyllosphere. The central working hypotheses of RA2 are as follows: (i) metabolic partnership between plants and associated microbes is important for the establishment of interorganismal nutritional networks, and (ii) variation in this metabolic connectivity is a major force underlying edaphic adaptation and plant health. Metabolic models will be developed from analyses of plant-microbe communities growing in different natural soils and environments, and their physiological relevance will be tested and refined using an iterative set of microbiota reconstitution experiments under controlled nutritional perturbations. Central to RA2 is an integrated analysis of the plant microbiota metabolism, taking advantage of reductionist approaches.
Coordinators
Prof. Dr. Alga Zuccaro
Institute for Plant Sciences, Cologne Biocenter
University of Cologne
Dr. Rubén Garrido-Oter
Department of Plant Microbe Interactions
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
Members
Dr. Florian Altegoer
Dr. Laura Armbruster
Dr. Borjana Arsova
Prof. Dr. Petra Bauer
Prof. Dr. Michael Bonkowski
Prof. Dr. Marcel Bucher
Dr. Concetta De Quattro
Prof. Dr. Gunther Döhlemann
Prof. Dr. Oliver Ebenhöh
Büşra Elkatmış
Prof. Dr. Wolf B. Frommer
Jan Gaertner
Doctoral Researcher, Research Area 2
Dr. Rubén Garrido Oter
Dr. Tonni Grube Andersen
Dr. Stéphane Hacquard
Dr. Götz Hensel
Svenja Hermanns
Prof. Dr. Tatjana Hildebrandt
Dr. Poonam Kanwar
Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Area 1,2
Prof. Dr. Stanislav Kopriva
Prof. Dr. Maria von Korff Schmising
Principal Investigator, Research Area 1,2,4
Dr. Ernesto Llamas
Dr. Eliza Loo
Group leader, Research Area 2,3
Dr. Takaki Maekawa
Milena Malisic
Daniel Moser
Prof. Dr. Jane E. Parker
Prof. Dr. Markus Pauly
Dr. Anthony Piro
Dr. Daniela Ristova
Prof. Dr. Laura Rose
Pia Saake
Dr. Sebastian Samwald
CEPLAS Researcher, Research Area 2
Dr. Isabel ML Saur
Prof. Dr. Paul Schulze-Lefert
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schurr
Priyamedha Sengupta
Doctoral Researcher, Research Area 2