Department of Plant Biochemistry
Signal perception in plant-pathogen interactions
Molecular mechanisms of pathogen recognition in plants
Organization of signal transduction cascades involved in plant pathogen defence
Engineering of disease resistance in crops
Researchers of the groups "Cellular Signalling" and "Peptide Receptors" investigate the recognition of pathogens and defence in plants. They are trying to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms. Receptors in the plant cell membranes recognize signal molecules send out by the microbial pathogen. Activated by this signal, the receptors induce a intracellular signal transduction chain resulting in the plant's defence response. This can be for example the production of anti-microbial phytoalexins. The isolation of genes encoding the receptors or other elements of the signal transduction chain will enable us to bread plants with higher resistances against pathogens using biotechnological methods.