Research

The research aims of the Center for Molecular Plant Physiology (PlaCe) is to acquire new knowledge at the molecular level of the life processes of plants. Using molecular tools, it is experimentally feasible to change the course of individual metabolic pathways, to modulate their regulation and to alter their interaction with other pathways in the plant. The effects of specific changes are monitored ad studied at the whole plant level using transgenic plants. Detailed knowledge of the biochemical processes offers the possibility to obtain a coherent understanding of their importance for plant growth and development.

Plants are evolutionarily advanced organisms and have many life processes in common with other higher organisms - man included. However, plants are sessile organisms which, from a relatively fortuitous habitat, need to cope with environmental stress factors like cold, heat, drought, strong light and salt without being able to escape to a more favorable biotope. Likewise, from a fixed position, the plant must deal with biotic stress factors, pathogens and herbivorous animals as well as with competition from other plants. To meet these demands, plants have evolved a wide range of unique survival strategies fundamenally different from those known in animals. Based on carbondioxide, inorganic salts, water and sunlight plants are able to synthesize all the organic compounds essential to their metabolism as well as more than 200.000 different bio-active natural products. Natural products enable plnats to communicate witht eh environment and are used as protectants against attack. No other group of organisms match the diversity of biosynthetic capability found in higher plants. Thus plants may be considered organic chemists par excellence. Research areas of particular interest include:

 

• The ability of plants to modulate and adapt their metabolism in response to both benign and adverse growth conditions
• The ability of plants to carry out photosynthesis and thus to use carbon dioxide as the sole source of carbon for synthesis of carbohydrates and to derive all other required organic compounds from these
• The ability of plants to synthesize strong cell walls providing physical rigidity of the plant body and constituting a dynamic barrier against the environment allowing solutes to pass while fending off pathogens and herbivores
• The ability of plants to synthesize a wide range of bio-active natural products (e.g. flavorings, aroma compounds, deterrents, attractants, UV-protectants, toxins and pigments) allowing communication with other plants as well as with animals and microorganisms

PlaCe carries out research within these basic and plant specific topics to expand our knowledge about the biochemistry and physiology of higher plants