Prof. Dr. Maria von Korff

Research focus

Most temperate crops including wheat and barley are annual plants, however, most perennial plant communities including the wild relatives of cereal crops have greater biomass capacity and maintain better soil and water quality. We will exploit existing genetic resources in barley including wild barley relatives to dissect the genetic control of primary and axillary meristem development. Variation in the timing of development and tiller formation will be correlated with agronomic performance in the field. Understanding the genetic basis of annual versus perennial growth will allow a targeted transfer of genes conferring perennial growth characteristics to crops with good agronomic performance.

Most important publications

  1. Helmsorig G, Walla A, Rütjes T, Buchmann G, Schüller R, Hensel G, von Korff M (2024) early maturity 7 promotes early flowering by controlling the light input into the circadian clock in barley. Plant Physiol 194(2):849-866. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiad551.
  2. Zhong J, van Esse GW, Bi X, Lan T, Walla A, Sang Q, Franzen R, von Korff M (2021) INTERMEDIUM-M encodes an HvAP2L-H5 ortholog and is required for inflorescence indeterminacy and spikelet determinacy in barley. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 118(8). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2011779118.
  3. Gol L, Haraldsson EB, von Korff M (2021) Ppd-H1 integrates drought stress signals to control spike development and flowering time in barley. J Exp Bot 72(1):122-136. doi: 10.1093/jxb/eraa261.
  4. Walla A, Wilma van Esse G, Kirschner GK, Guo G, Brünje A, Finkemeier I, Simon R, von Korff M (2020) An Acyl-CoA N-Acyltransferase Regulates Meristem Phase Change and Plant Architecture in Barley. Plant Physiol 183(3):1088-1109. doi: 10.1104/pp.20.00087.
  5. Bi X, van Esse W, Mulki MA, Kirschner G, Zhong J, Simon R, von Korff M (2019) CENTRORADIALIS Interacts with FLOWERING LOCUS T-Like Genes to Control Floret Development and Grain Number. Plant Physiol 180(2):1013-1030. doi: 10.1104/pp.18.01454.
  6. Pankin A, Altmüller J, Becker C, von Korff M (2018) Targeted resequencing reveals genomic signatures of barley domestication. New Phytol 218(3):1247-1259. doi: 10.1111/nph.15077.
  7. Mulki MA, Bi X, von Korff M (2018) FLOWERING LOCUS T3 Controls Spikelet Initiation But Not Floral Development. Plant Physiol 178(3):1170-1186. doi: 10.1104/pp.18.00236.
  8. Ejaz M, von Korff M (2017) The Genetic Control of Reproductive Development under High Ambient Temperature. Plant Physiol 173(1):294-306. doi: 10.1104/pp.16.01275.
  9. Mulki MA, von Korff M (2016) CONSTANS Controls Floral Repression by Up-Regulating VERNALIZATION2 (VRN-H2) in Barley. Plant Physiol 170(1):325-337. doi: 10.1104/pp.15.01350.
  10. Digel B, Pankin A, von Korff M (2015) Global Transcriptome Profiling of Developing Leaf and Shoot Apices Reveals Distinct Genetic and Environmental Control of Floral Transition and Inflorescence Development in Barley. Plant Cell 27(9):2318-2334. doi: 10.1105/tpc.15.00203.