Welcome to the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

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 lab to better understand interactions at a molecular level.

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

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

Photo: Anna Schroll
We support the Initiative “Weltoffenes Thüringen”.

We support the Initiative “Weltoffenes Thüringen”.

We are committed to ensuring that people from different backgrounds live and work together in a respectful manner.
Training and international collaborations are key features of our work.

Training and international collaborations are key features of our work.

Photo: Anna Schroll
We believe diversity and inclusion leads to the best science.

We believe diversity and inclusion leads to the best science.

Photo: Jürgen Scheere

Research News

Hidden partners: Symbiodolus bacteria found in various insect orders
Max Planck researchers describe a new endosymbiont that is widespread in insects and whose ecological role needs to be further investigated
Odors are encoded in rings in the brain of migratory locusts
Researchers in Jena show that chemical information is represented completely differently in the brains of these insects than in other insects or vertebrates
Oxidant pollutant ozone removes mating barriers between fly species
Elevated ozone levels increase the occurrence of mostly sterile hybrids between different species of the genus Drosophila

Current News and Announcements

Publications

Lucier, R.; Kamileen, M. O.; Nakamura, Y.; Serediuk, S.; Barbole, R.; Wurlitzer, J.; Kunert, M.; Heinicke, S.; O’Connor, S. E.; Sonawane, P. D.: Steroidal scaffold decorations in Solanum alkaloid biosynthesis. Molecular Plant (accepted)
Li, Z.; Costamagna, A. C.; Beran, F.: Biology, Ecology, and Management of Flea Beetles in Brassica Crops. Annual Review of Entomology 69, pp. 199 - 217 (2024)
Otárola-Jiménez, J. A.; Nataraj, N.; Bisch-Knaden, S.; Hansson, B. S.; Knaden, M.: Oviposition experience affects oviposition preference in Drosophila melanogaster. iScience (2024)

News

At the 39th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE), currently taking place in Prague, Jonathan Gershenzon, Managing Director of our Institute and Head of the Department of Biochemistry, was awarded the Society's Silver Medal.
Jonathan Gershenzon, Head of the Department of Biochemistry, has been elected to membership of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). This prestigious honor recognizes his outstanding contributions to the life sciences.
Andrea Müller from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology receives the Beutenberg Campus Award for the best doctoral thesis.

Events and Seminars

Bruno Lemaitre

Layers of immunity: Deconstructing the Drosophila effector response
Jul 18, 2024 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Room: Seminar room A1.009 and A1.011

Daniel Kronauer

To be announced
Jul 25, 2024 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
Hybrid lecture (online via zoom & MPI-CE, A1.009 + A1.011)

Priotas

Präsentation der Ergebnisse der Zufriedenheitsumfrage
Aug 14, 2024 09:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
online via zoom

Priotas

Presentation of the results of the staff survey
Aug 14, 2024 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
online via zoom

Klaus Schläppi

Exudate-microbiome interactions on maize roots
Aug 29, 2024 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
Hybrid lecture (online via zoom & MPI-CE, A1.009 + A1.011)
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