Research Group Plant Defense Physiology

Plants efficiently interact with their (a)biotic environment. They are able to recognize changes and react properly. The interactions with and reaction to insect herbivores is of our particular interest. We address the following questions: How are plants able to recognize an attack? How do they initiate local and systemic defenses? What is the nature of the defense reactions? What is the basis of plant-plant communication?

In plants, the molecular basis of the processes that are initiated upon an herbivorous insect attack is still not known. We propose that chemical signals such as herbivore- or damage-associated molecular patterns (HAMPs/DAMPs) are perceived by the plant and induce downstream signaling cascades that eventually mediate local and systemic defense reactions in distant tissues. Beyond such communication within the plant, the communication between neighboring plants is of special interest. The role of electrical signals, intracellular calcium concentration changes, phytohormones, and volatiles as signaling features that might be involved in such regulation processes is under investigation. Moreover, we analyze the contribution of wounding to the process of defense induction by employing the mechanical larva, Mecworm. Beside Arabidopsis, we work on the crop sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas).

Carnivorous Plants

In another project we are studying the „plant carnivorous syndrome“ in the pitcher plant Nepenthes. Although well-known and often described in literature and textbooks, the biochemistry and molecular biology of carnivory in plants are not well understood. To learn more about this fascinating phenomenon, we study the digestive process and its regulation. Our results suggest that plant carnivory evolved from plant defense.

 

Collaboration partners

Dr. Eric G. Cosio
Universidad Católica del Peru
Lima, Peru

Dr. Jyothilashmi Vadassery
National Institute of Plant Genome Research
New Delhi, India

Dr. Alexandra Furch & Dr. Matthias R. Zimmermann
Plant Physiology
FS University Jena, Germany

Prof. Dr. Christoph-Martin Geilfus
Soil Science & Plant Nutrition
Hochschule Geisenheim, Germany

Prof. Dr. Rainer Hedrich
Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics
University of Würzburg, Germany

Prof. Dr. Ralf Oelmüller
Plant Physiology
FS University Jena, Germany

Prof. Dr. Edgar Peiter
University Halle
Halle/Saale, Germany

Dr. Andrej Pavlovic
Dept Biophysics, Palacky-University
Olomouc, Czech Republic

Dr. Marcia González-Teuber
Pontífica Universidad Católica de Chile,
Santiago, Chile

Dr. Laura Jaakola
Department of Arctic and Marine Biology
UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsö, Norway

 

Former group members

Postdocs

Pierre-Jean Malé
Post Doc (July 2018 - June 2019), France

Marilia Almeida Trapp
Post Doc (December 2016 - November 2018), Brazil

Angela Menegassi
Post Doc (September 2015 - August 2016), Brazil

Jyothilakshmi Vadassery
Post Doc (January 2010 - November 2014), India

 

Doctoral researchers

Andrea Teresa Müller
Finished her Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in February 2024

Alberto X. Dávila-Lara
Finished his Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in July 2022

Anja K. Meents
Finished her Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in July 2022

Monika Heyer
Finished her Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in November 2019

Ayufu Yilamujiang (Ilham Ayup)
Finished his Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in August 2017

Sandra Scholz
Finished her Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in November 2015

Franziska Buch
Finished her Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in April 2015

Sandy Rottloff
Finished her Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in April 2012

Heiko Maischak
Finished his Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in January 2010

Margit Leitner
Finished her Ph.D. at the FSU Jena in November 2007

Agnes Walter
Finished her Ph.D. at the LMU München in May 2007

 

Diploma, master, bachelor & students

Kilian Ossetek
Finished his Master Thesis at the FSU Jena in March 2024

Md Asifur Rahman Soad
Finished his Master Thesis at the FSU in July 2021

Anindya Majumder
Finished his Master Thesis at the FSU in February 2020

Robert Nissler
Finished his Master Thesis at the FSU Jena in December 2016

Anja Meents
 Finished her Master Thesis at the University Konstanz in August 2016

Marietheres Jaeger
Finished her Bachelor Thesis at the FSU Jena in March 2016

Monika Heyer
Finished her Diploma Thesis at the FSU Jena in June 2011

Matthias Rott
Finished his Diploma Thesis at the University Bonn in Sep 2009

Tobias Nehrdich
Finished his Diploma Thesis at the FSU Jena in Nov 2008

Sandy Rottloff
Finished her Diploma Thesis at the FSU Jena in March 2006

Regina Stieber
Finished her Diploma Thesis at the Fachhochschule Jena in Jan 2006

Guests

Deepak, S.
Guest Ph.D. Student (Dec 2005 – May 2006) from Mysore University, India

Gezimar De Souza
Guest Ph.D. Student (Sep 2006 – May 2007) from University of Sao Carlos, Brasil

Matthias R. Zimmermann
Guest Ph.D. Student (Sep 2008 – Feb 2009) from Justus-Liebig University Gießen

Mario Fabrizi
Guest Ph.D. Student (Mar 2009 – Jul 2009) from University of Perugia, Italy

Josef Večeřa
Guest Ph.D. Student (May 2010 – Aug 2010) from University of Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic

Marko Petek
Guest Ph.D. Student (April 2010 – Oct 2010) from National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Marilia Almeida Trapp
Guest Ph.D. Student (April 2013 - Mar 2014) from Federal University Sao Carlos, Brazil

Jeremy Dehors
Guest Master Student (April 2015 - Aug 2015) from University Rouen, France

Dr. Mukesh Meena
Guest Scientist (April 2016 - June 2017) from NIPGR, New Delhi, India

Jaiana Malabarba
Guest Ph.D. Student (Aug 2016 - July 2017) from Fed. Univ. Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Deepika Mittal
Guest Ph.D. Student (Mar 2017 - May 2017) from NIPGR, New Delhi, India

Lucia G. Barriga
Guest Ph.D. Student (Oct 2017 - Dec 2017) from University Buenos Aires, Argentina

Valeria de Rosa
Guest Master Student (Erasmus) (May/June 2018) from University of Udine, Italy

Dr. Laura Pagliari
Guest Scientist (Dec 2019 - Mar 2020) from University of Udine, Italy

Jana Jakšová
Guest Ph.D. Student (July 2020 - Sep 2020) from Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic

Dr. Sheng-Zhuo Huang
Guest Scientist (Aug 2022 - Feb 2023) from Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China

Maryam Alipour
Guest Ph.D. Student (Dec 2022 - May 2023) from Isfahan University of Technology, Iran

Moniba Zahid Mahmood
Guest Ph.D. Student (Oct 2022 - June 2023) from COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad, Pakistan

Shraddha Wadurkar
Guest Ph.D. Student (Aug 2021 - June 2023) from Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland

Christianne Mae Dela Cruz
Guest Master Student (June 2022 - Aug 2022 & June 2023 to Sep 2023) from Midanao State Univbersity, Iligan Institute of Technolgy, Philippines