PhD Thesisstarted in Apr 2012
Using Tupiocoris notatus to understand rhythmic behaviors of Nicotiana attenuata plants
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Biologisch Pharmazeutische Fakultät
First Supervisor: Prof. I.T. Baldwin
Co-Supervisor(s): Dr. S. Meldau, Dr. A. Mithöfer Master Thesis2012
The role of cytokinins in plant responses to insect attack
Universität Bayreuth, Lehrstuhl für Pflanzenphysiologie
First Supervisor: S. Clemens
Co-Supervisor(s): Prof. I.T. Baldwin, Dr. S. Meldau Current research (PhD-Thesis)
My research focusses on the influence of the circadian clock of the plant on plant-herbivore interactions using the ecological model-plant Nicotiana attenuata and the specialist sap-feeding bug Tupiocoris notatus (Heteroptera, Miridae).
As plant defense against herbivores is costly for plant growth and fitness, its induction upon herbivore attack is tightly regulated. My last two years of research were dedicated to the developmental regulation of herbivory inducible defenses in N. attenuata. Levels of inducible defenses follow a gradient from tissue that is important for plants fitness to less important tissue. I was examining the role of cytokinins in this regulation.
During my PhD I am looking at the diurnal regulation of these defenses and how defense metabolism has been adapted to the activity phases of Mirid bugs. I am using transgenic plants that are impaired in parts of their internal circadian clock to explore their influence on N. attenuatas interaction with T. notatus under greenhouse- and field-conditions.
| | last updated on 2013-04-04 |
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