Research Group Plant Defense Physiology
Research Topics: | ||
Plant-Microbe Interactions | Herbivory | Carnivorous Plants |
Almost all plants can recognize contacts with symbiotic or pathogenic microbes resulting in completely different infection processes which lead to either effective symbioses (e.g. dinitrogen-fixing legume nodules, mycorrhiza) or to plant disease and inducible defense reactions, respectively. The molecular basis of the underlying communication between the organisms involved is still not known. Beside Arabidopsis, the organisms we mainly use in our studies are legumes as these plants are hosts for symbionts, pathogens as well as for pests. In addition to the initial signal perception, early events of the subsequent signal transduction cascades such as different ion fluxes cross the plasma membrane, intracellular calcium transients in different compartments as well as downstream signals, finally leading to cellular (defense) responses are in the focus of our interest.
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Group Leader:
PD Dr. Axel Mithöfer
+49 (0)3641 57 1263
e-mail