Prof. Dr. Georg Groth

Maintaining an adequate food supply in the face of a growing population and the effects of climate change is a major challenge for global agriculture. Weeds are the most costly category of agricultural pests to crops, causing more yield loss and contributing more to farmers' production costs than any other pest worldwide.
Our research focuses on developing targeted inhibitors of key enzymes involved in C4 photosynthesis, a pathway used by certain weeds that have become more prevalent due to climate change. Thereby we will improve the resilience of crops that use the C3 photosynthetic pathway against weeds that thrive under changing climatic conditions due to their C4 photosynthetic pathway. This could lead to more sustainable agricultural practices and contribute to securing the global food supply.
The primary enzymes of interest in our lab are pyruvate phosphate dikinase (PPDK) and phosphoenol-pyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), which along with their regulatory enzymes, are essential components of the C4 photosynthetic mechanism in plants.
In short, our research is focused on developing novel solutions to protect vital crops from the adverse effects of climate change by inhibiting the growth of C4-pathway weeds, thereby ensuring food security for future generations.

1. Dittrich J, Kolodzy F, Töpel A, Hofmann A, Groth G, Pich A, Gohlke H (2023) Loading and co-solvent-triggered release of okanin, a C4 plant key enzyme inhibitor, into/from functional microgels. Chem Eng J 460. doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.141631.
2. Hofmann A, Minges A, Groth G (2021) Interfering Peptides Targeting Protein-Protein Interactions in the Ethylene Plant Hormone Signaling Pathway as Tools to Delay Plant Senescence. Methods Mol Biol 2213:71-85. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0954-5_7.
3. Minges A, Janssen D, Offermann S, Groth G (2019) Efficient In Vivo Screening Method for the Identification of C4 Photosynthesis Inhibitors Based on Cell Suspensions of the Single-Cell C4 Plant Bienertia sinuspersici. Front Plant Sci 10:1350. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01350.
4. Minges A, Groth G (2017) Small-molecule inhibition of pyruvate phosphate dikinase targeting the nucleotide binding site. PLoS One 12(7):e0181139. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181139.
5. Dick M, Erlenkamp G, Nguyen GTT, Forster K, Groth G, Gohlke H (2017) Pyrazolidine-3,5-dione-based inhibitors of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase as a new class of potential C(4) plant herbicides. FEBS Lett 591(20):3369-3377. doi: 10.1002/1873-3468.12842.
6. Nguyen GTT, Erlenkamp G, Jäck O, Küberl A, Bott M, Fiorani F, Gohlke H, Groth G (2016) Chalcone-based Selective Inhibitors of a C4 Plant Key Enzyme as Novel Potential Herbicides. Scientific Reports 6. doi: 10.1038/srep27333.
7. Bisson MMA, Kessenbrock M, Müller L, Hofmann A, Schmitz F, Cristescu SM, Groth G (2016) Peptides interfering with protein-protein interactions in the ethylene signaling pathway delay tomato fruit ripening. Scientific Reports 6. doi: 10.1038/srep30634.
8. Schlieper D, Forster K, Paulus JK, Groth G (2013) Resolving the Activation Site of Positive Regulators in Plant Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase. Mol Plant 7(2):437-440. doi: 10.1093/mp/sst130.
9. Paulus JK, Schlieper D, Groth G (2013) Greater efficiency of photosynthetic carbon fixation due to single amino-acid substitution. Nat Commun 4:1518. doi: 10.1038/ncomms2504.
10. Groth G (2002) Structure of spinach chloroplast F1-ATPase complexed with the phytopathogenic inhibitor tentoxin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99(6):3464-3468. doi: 10.1073/pnas.052546099.