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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.

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.

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.

Publications

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Harzsch, S.; Dircksen, H.; Hansson, B. S.: Local olfactory interneurons provide the basis for neurochemical regionalization of olfactory glomeruli in crustaceans. The Journal of Comparative Neurology (accepted)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Heyworth, H. C.; Skelhorn, J.; Rowland, H. M.: Dietary wariness. Current Biology 31 (21), pp. R1412 - R1413 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

Fenizia, S.; Weissflog, J.; Pohnert, G.: Cysteinolic acid is a widely distributed compatible solute of marine microalgae. Marine Drugs 19 (12), 683 (2021)

News

Bill Hansson elected foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

December 07, 2021

news

With the award of membership, CAS recognizes his outstanding research achievements and his commitment to the expansion of scientific cooperation between the Max Planck Society and CAS in China.

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.