Research Interests
I am interested in understanding the communication between plants and microbes with special interest in the interaction between root-associated bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) and wild tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata) and the consequences of the colonization for the plants’ fitness in its natural environment. N. attenuata is a post-fire annual that depends on smoke-derived signals for mass germination after fires. A broad variety of fungi from the phylum Glomeromycota, so-called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, establish symbiotic relationships with most herbaceous plants in ecosystems all over the world. Root colonization not only alters gene expression but also the accumulation of regulatory small RNAs. We want to elucidate the role of the small RNA machinery in the interaction of plants with AM fungi and herbivores. Furthermore, we are interested in the importance of the cell wall composition for root bacterial colonization.
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