Molecular Signal Processing

Plants are masters of resilience: once their seeds decide to sprout, they are destined to hold their ground and weather the elements, on occasion for centuries to come. As a consequence of sessility, plants respond to a local challenge or opportunity with directional growth, to evade or to explore, and with the synthesis of an arsenal of bioactive chemicals, to communicate or to self-defend. Several classes of hormones and their associated signalling networks govern plant development and adjust plant growth to its circumstance.

The general theme of the “Department of Molecular Signal Processing” is to understand at the molecular level how plant systems monitor and perceive external parameters, transmit and integrate information about the environment, and deploy metabolic and developmental responses to abiotic or biotic challenge. Major directions of research include the integrated program areas of mineral sensing (phosphorus, iron, nitrogen), regulation of defense metabolism (glucosinolates), and hormonal control (auxin, jasmonates), with particular emphasis on plant-rhizosphere interactions using plant model systems.

Research

Steffen Abel

C. Douglas Grubb

Luz Irina Calderón Villalobos & Steffen Abel

Marcel Quint