Microbial Interactions in Plant Ecosystems

Research focus:

As researchers have become aware of the importance of an overall concept that no longer sees individuals in isolation, but in the context of their associated microorganisms, more and more research has been done in this area (see Links to related research projects). This overall concept is represented by the so-called holobiont. The holobiont defines a host together with its permanently, but also transiently associated microorganisms, which are called microbiomes or microbiota. Despite all efforts, numerous key questions remain unanswered, which we address with our research:

1) Which factors structure the microbiome and how are microbial communities established and stabilized?
2) How do microbes in complex communities interact with each other and with their host? How are host signals transmitted to the microbial community?
3) How do microbial communities evolve? Is there evolutionary synchronization? What are the consequences of community evolution on gene flow?

Here are our current research projects

All our projects aim to gain deep insights into host-microbe-microbe interactions. To achieve a comprehensive understanding, we employ a wide range of methods and systems.

Knowledge Based Design of Complex Synthetic Microbial Communities for Plant Protection (DeCoCt)

In this project, we study complex microbial communities (microbiota) that exist on the surfaces of higher organisms, such as plants, and their impact on host health. With this project we seek to understand the mechanisms that govern the dynamics and stability of microbial communities and we use this knowledge to design synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) capable of protecting plants from pathogen expansion.

Our research focus on the interactions between microbial members, environmental factors, and host factors to uncover the drivers of microbiota dynamics. Additionally, we investigate the stability of these dynamic communities and determine the minimal diversity required for a community to persist and protect a plant from pathogens.

The ultimate goal is project is to develop knowledge-based SynComs that can be used as protective probiotics in agriculture and eventually clinical applications. For this project we are employing high-throughput sequencing, genomics, proteomics, and computational tools to analyze complex time course data including multiple biotic and abiotic factors.