MPI-CE Faculty

Researchers in this group isolate and characterize the genes and enzymes involved in plant defense biosynthesis in woody plants and grasses. They also develop tools to manipulate defensive phenotypes to understand their costs and benefits. More recently, they have also analyzed how herbivores and pathogens metabolize plant defense compounds and identified enzymes and genes involved in detoxification. more

The members of this department study odor-directed behavior and its underlying neurobiological substrates in sphingid moths and drosophilid flies. Their main objective is to understand the evolution of olfactory functions in an ecological context. The complete neuroethological chain of events is studied from single molecules and genes to neurons and on to whole organism responses, also increasingly relying on genome editing techniques (CrispCas9). more

The insect-behavior group investigates how odors affect the behavior of animals as different as vinegar flies, sphingid moths, and desert ants. They research the meaning of odors for these insects  and aim to understand the evolutionary and ecological logic by which an insect decodes its chemical environment. more

Researchers in this department elucidate and engineer specialized plant metabolism to understand the biosynthesis of complex molecules. Additionally, they develop platforms that allow fast and inexpensive production of these compounds, as well as platforms to produce unnatural variants of these products for biomedical applications. more

The research in this department focuses on the evolutionary origins, ecological implications, and the chemical and molecular basis of insect interactions with mutualistic microbes, with antagonists and the insects’ food plants using a variety of insect systems. more

Dr. Sachse’s “Olfactory Coding” group focuses on dissecting neural circuits that are involved in coding, processing and perception of odors in Drosophila using neurophysiological, molecular and behavioral methods. more

Dr. Ulrich’s group studies how social organization affects disease dynamics, with the aim to identify properties of social groups that protect them against disease.
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Shabnam Mohammadi’s group examines the independend evolution of similar adaptive outcomes in different herbivore and predator lineages using he toxins of the cardiotonic steroid family as an example.