What factors mediate root-herbivore interactions? 

This is the main question we are committed to in our research group. Despite the fact that root herbivores are among the most harmful agricultural pests and abundant ecosystem drivers, little is known about the strategies that they employ to feed on their host plants. Also, research on plant-defenses against herbivores has so far focused on the leaves, and the defensive potential of roots remains to be discovered. 

Our research group takes an interdisciplinary cross-species approach to elucidate the factors that mediate root-herbivore interactions. By combining different techniques and plant models, we aim at generating a flow of knowledge from single genes to ecological interactions across a gradient from wild systems to agriculture.