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
Dr. Rubén Garrido-Oter

Department of Plant Microbe Interactions
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
Members
Dr. Florian Altegoer

Dr. Laura Armbruster

Dr. Yugander Arra

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

Dr. Rubén Garrido Oter

Dr. Tonni Grube Andersen

Dr. Stéphane Hacquard

Dr. Götz Hensel

Svenja Hermanns

Prof. Dr. Tatjana Hildebrandt

Dr. Ji-Yun Kim

Prof. Dr. Stanislav Kopriva

Prof. Dr. Maria von Korff Schmising

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

Dr. Johana Stadtel geb. Misas Villamil

Dr. St. Elmo Wilken

Dr. Kathrin Wippel

Dr. Michael Wudick

Dr. Yanrong You

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zeier

Dr. Jinyi Zhu

Prof. Dr. Alga Zuccaro

Dr. Weiliang Zuo

Prof. Dr. Matias Zurbriggen
