Welcome to the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

We investigate how organisms interact with chemical signals.

We do research in the lab to better understand interactions at a molecular level.

We do research in the glasshouse and in the field to better understand interactions and signals in their natural environment.

Photo: Anna Schroll

Training and international collaborations are key features of our work.

We believe diversity and inclusion leads to the best science.

Jonathan Gershenzon

Bill Hansson  

Sarah O'Connor

Martin Kaltenpoth

Molecular Ecology

Yuko Ulrich

Axel Mithöfer

Huw Groucutt

Hannah Rowland

Silke Sachse

David Heckel

Axel Mithöfer

Georg Pohnert

Research News

Gut enzyme in cockchafer larvae activates dandelion defense mechanism

October 25, 2021
Removing the sugar component from a toxin in dandelion roots increases larval growth while simultaneously deterring the larvae from feeding.
more

Learning helps tobacco hawkmoths to select a nectar source and oviposition site more efficiently

September 27, 2021
Learned odors influence the moths' preferences for certain flowers and host plants. Olfactory sensory cells on the proboscis, on the other hand, play no role in learning.
more

The evolution of vinegar flies is based on the variation of male sex pheromones

July 06, 2021
Max Planck researchers decipher the chemical language underlying mating in 99 species of the genus Drosophila.
more

Current News and Announcements

Publications

MPG.PuRe
DOI
Steffen Harzsch, Heinrich Dircksen, and Bill S. Hansson, "Local olfactory interneurons provide the basis for neurochemical regionalization of olfactory glomeruli in crustaceans," The Journal of Comparative Neurology (2021).
MPG.PuRe
DOI
publisher-version
Simona Fenizia, Jerrit Weissflog, and Georg Pohnert, "Cysteinolic acid is a widely distributed compatible solute of marine microalgae," Marine Drugs 19 (12), 683 (2021).

News

Jonathan Gershenzon new member of the Leopoldina

October 19, 2021

news
The biochemist and director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena has been elected member of the German National Academy of Sciences.
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Ernest Guenther Award for Sarah O'Connor

October 04, 2021

news
Sarah O'Connor to receive the 2022 Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products of the American Chemical Society.
more

Otto-Hahn medal awarded to Franziska Eberl

June 21, 2021

news
The young Max Planck researcher studied how poplars defend themselves against two attackers at the same time: voracious caterpillars and pathogenic fungi.
more

Events and Seminars

IMPRS Symposium

Apr 6, 2022 - Apr 7, 2022

25th anniversary of the institute

Jun 1, 2022
Abbe Lecture Hall
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