You can find a detailed account of the story in the book „60 Jahre Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie“ by Sylvia Pieplow.

60 years Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry:
a brief historical outline

Members of the Institute in the year 1964

The Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) was founded on January 1, 1958 in Halle an der Saale as the Institute for Biochemistry of Plants (IBP) and joined the German Academy of Sciences of then East Germany as a member institution. Its founding director, Professor Kurt Mothes, had previously headed the Department of Chemical Physiology at the Academic Institute for Crop Plant Research in nearby Gatersleben and the Institute for Pharmacognosy at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). In 1954, Mothes had assumed presidency of the Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina in Halle (1954-1974). He additionally took over the chair of General Botany at the MLU in 1958. In 1963, Mothes founded the first chair of Plant Biochemistry in Germany.

To answer current questions in the still young field of plant biochemistry, Mothes brought experts from all relevant disciplines to the institute: biologists, chemists, biochemists and pharmacists. With this interdisciplinary approach, Mothes was far ahead of his time. The reactive brew of ideas gave rise to a special momentum and creativity that still characterizes the intellectual and cultural life at the institute today.

Research on alkaloids

Under Mothes' leadership, research activities initially focused strongly on alkaloid substances of selected medicinal and poisonous plants. With radioisotope technology, which was state-of-the-art at that time, scientists began to elucidate the biosynthesis of interesting alkaloids such as nicotine, ricinine, atropine, cocaine, morphine and other opium poppy alkaloids (Horst Robert Schütte). In addition to these purely biochemical projects, researchers also investigated cell and developmental biology of alkaloid production in Papaver somniferum.

Mothes became famous for his quest for an alleged poppy variety in which morphine synthesis stops at the stage of the intermediate product codeine. Codeine, he hoped, could then be exploited as starting material for partial synthesis of all painkillers and anaesthetics, with the result that the increasing global drug problem and illegal opium production could be counteracted. In the mid-50s, Mothes embarked on an exhaustive search for the morphine-free opium poppy and finally found a variant of the Armenian poppy Papaver bracteatum, in which morphine biosynthesis prematurely halts. Consequently, P. bracteatum accumulates thebaine instead of morphine in its latex cells. The idea of replacing opium poppy with a morphine-free variety aroused great interest at the United Nations, but was later abandoned for political reasons. Still Papaver bracteatum was retained as a natural mutant and became the focus of IPB researchers’ interest again in 1999, when morphine biosynthesis was investigated with molecular and cell biological approaches.

Groundbreaking successes were also achieved in the field of ergot alkaloids. Under Detlef Gröger’s leadership, a liquid culture-based method for the cultivation of the ergot fungus Claviceps purpurea was established at the institute. Soon this submersion culture replaced the parasitic culture method used until then, and formed the basis for the development of industrial processes for the production of pharmaceutically relevant claviceps alkaloids. Gröger's achievements were regarded as milestones in ergot research. In 2005, he received the Egon Stahl Award from the Society for Medicinal Plant Research for his work in the field of pharmaceutical biology.

In the 1960s, the institute had already gained an international reputation in the field of alkaloid research and thus, Mothes succeeded in bringing the International Conference of Alkaloids to Halle three times (1961, 1964, and 1969). Such events were unusual for a time when the East German government was more concerned with isolation than with international cooperation.

Phytohormones

Phytohormones
In addition to the more application-oriented drug research projects, IBP scientists also studied basic plant growth and developmental processes. Based on earlier work on protein metabolism during senescence, Mothes explored the function of cytokinin analogues and cytokinins in the early 1960s. His findings contributed substantially to the state of knowledge on these newly discovered phytohormones at the time. They led to the development of the hormone-mediated source-sink theory for aging and other physiological processes in plants, which is still valid today. Mothes was also able to identify the Green Islands effect caused by leaf miner larvae on aging leaves as a cytokinin-mediated effect. The finding was published in Nature in 1969.

The long period under the leadership of Klaus Schreiber was characterized by a growing interference of the East German government with the concerns of science. Massive restrictions in the freedom of science and severe curbing of basic research marked East German science since the 1970s. Instead, more and more attention and funding was directed towards application-oriented projects on behalf of agricultural cooperatives and industry. IBP scientists began looking for new natural or synthetic plant growth regulators for more effective weed and pest control and an overall yield increase. Research was done on economically important crops such as cereals and potatoes. These cooperation projects with industry resulted in a large number of patents and an annual raising of approximately 4.5 million GDR-Marks in third-party funds.

Günter Adam (right) on excursion in Vietnam.

Drug research
In the mid-1970s, the institute's chemists began an intensive search for natural compounds that could serve as lead structures for the development of new medications. They mainly focused on plants from the primeval forests of Vietnam, which were used in folk medicine against various diseases. Numerous plant constituents, including some potential active substances, could be isolated and structurally elucidated at this time. These ethno-pharmacological projects under the direction of Günter Adam were continued after reunification and are still a focus of the Department of Bioorganic Chemistry today. Since 1972, generations of Vietnamese natural product chemists have been trained at the institute. Many of them now hold leading positions at research institutes in their home country.

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Stress research
In the field of stress research led by Lutz Nover, scientists could prove for the first time that plants, like bacteria, form classical heat shock proteins upon heat stress. The findings aroused international interest and were published in Cell in 1982. Later, these results led to the development of the chaperone theory, which is still being experimentally investigated worldwide.

Hormone research
Based on earlier work on cytokinins, IBP scientists investigated genetic regulation and protein metabolism of chloroplast biogenesis. At the beginning of the 70s, the institute provided evidence for the existence of a plastid-specific genome and that a number of chloroplast-specific genes are functional and active, being transcribed and translated independently of genes in the cell nucleus. This research was led by Benno Parthier. In addition, other phytohormones such as gibberellins, abscisic acid and ethylene were investigated at the IBP. In particular at that time, interest centered on gibberellins as haulm stabilizers for agricultural purposes. In the 1970s, scientists started the structural elucidation and synthesis of some gibberellin compounds and their conjugates (Günter Adam). Since financial partners from agriculture and industry ceased to exist after reunification, work in this field was discontinued in the early 1990s and the patents were released.

Reunification: Re-establishment under Benno Parthier (1989-1997)

In autumn 1989, demonstrations in Leipzig, Halle and many other cities marked the political change in East Germany. After the retirement of Klaus Schreiber, the East German Academy of Sciences appointed Klaus Müntz as the new director of the IBP. One year later, his directorate was officially replaced by Benno Parthier who, in May 1990, had been elected as the new director by the institute’s staff. According to the Unification Treaty between the two German states, East Germany’s Academy of Sciences had to disband by 31.12.1991, whereas the academy institutes, such as the IBP, had to undergo a rigorous evaluation process by the German Science Council. Afterwards, the fate of the nearly 70 academy institutes was decided: they were either decommissioned, affiliated with an university, or granted membership in one of the four German scientific associations.

The Science Council made the following recommendation on the IBP:
"In consideration of Halle's outstanding tradition in the field of plant sciences... the Science Council recommends the establishment of an independent research institute... which, due to its national importance...
fulfils the conditions for a Blue List Institute (today Leibniz Association).“

Therefore, the Institute of Biochemistry of Plants (IBP) of East Germans Academy of Sciences was closed on 31.12.1991 and re-established on 01.01.1992 as Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) of the (later) Leibniz Association. In 1993, Lothar Franzen became the first Administrative Director of the institute. The Scientific Advisory Board chaired by Jozef Schell and the Board of Trustees were founded in January 1994 as controlling and advisory bodies. Every seven years, the scientific and administrative departments of the IPB were to be evaluated by the Science Council and later by the Senate of the Leibniz Association. From 1994 on, the organizational framework of the newly founded institute was in place. Henceforth, research was carried out in four scientific departments: Natural Product Chemistry (Günter Adam), Hormone Research (Benno Parthier), Secondary Metabolism (Dieter Strack), and Stress and Developmental Biology (Dierk Scheel).

Benno Parthier headed the IPB as Managing Director until 1997. As President of the Leopoldina Academy and member of the East-West German Commission of the German Science Council, he played an important role as a mediator between science and politics in East and West Germany. In 1997, he received the Federal Cross of Merit for his achievements in the successful unification of two scientific systems.

At the beginning of the 1980s, two new substance classes were discovered, which were discussed as new phytohormones: the brassinosteroids and the jasmonates. Both hormone classes were investigated promptly and successfully at IPB, which resulted in a continuation of these projects even after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Günter Adam led a number of fundamental experiments on brassinosteroids, in particular on physiological effects and ubiquitous occurrence of the newly discovered signaling substances. With his retirement in 1999, work on steroid hormones was discontinued.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, Claus Wasternack took the lead in IPB jasmonate (JA) research which continues uninterruptedly to this day. In 1981, free jasmonic acid was successfully isolated from the pericarp of unripe field beans at the institute for the first time. Furthermore, using a radioimmunoassay developed at the institute, researchers were able to prove the endogenous existence of the hormone in various other plants. About a decade later, the first JA-induced proteins (JIPs) were discovered at IPB, laying the foundation for the elucidation of the jasmonate mode of action. Immunocytological methods enabled IPB scientists to localize JA biosynthesis within the plant cell. Also, various JA conjugates were discovered that were, however, not very active. The IPB was able to prove that the 12-OH-JA derivative plays a role in the termination of the JA signaling pathway. Numerous further insights into crosstalk and regulatory patterns of jasmonates followed. In 2009, when the active isoleucine conjugate of jasmonic acid was found, IPB scientists proved that the signal substance is only active in its isomeric cis form.

After Claus Wasternack's retirement in 2008, jasmonate research was continued by Bettina Hause (Department of Cell and Metabolic Biology) and additionally, since 2016, by Debora Gasperini and her group in the Department of Molecular Signal Processing. These groups investigate early events of jasmonate signaling (Gasperini Lab) and the role of jasmonates in trichome and flower development, as well as in mycorrhization (Hause Lab). The insights gained at the institute contributed greatly to the fundamental understanding of these phytohormones. Continuing to this day, the IPB is a highly regarded center of jasmonate research.

Therefore, the Institute of Biochemistry of Plants (IBP) of East Germans Academy of Sciences was closed on 31.12.1991 and re-established on 01.01.1992 as Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) of the (later) Leibniz Association. In 1993, Lothar Franzen became the first Administrative Director of the institute. The Scientific Advisory Board chaired by Jozef Schell and the Board of Trustees were founded in January 1994 as controlling and advisory bodies. Every seven years, the scientific and administrative departments of the IPB were to be evaluated by the Science Council and later by the Senate of the Leibniz Association. From 1994 on, the organizational framework of the newly founded institute was in place. Henceforth, research was carried out in four scientific departments: Natural Product Chemistry (Günter Adam), Hormone Research (Benno Parthier), Secondary Metabolism (Dieter Strack), and Stress and Developmental Biology (Dierk Scheel).

Benno Parthier headed the IPB as Managing Director until 1997. As President of the Leopoldina Academy and member of the East-West German Commission of the German Science Council, he played an important role as a mediator between science and politics in East and West Germany. In 1997, he received the Federal Cross of Merit for his achievements in the successful unification of two scientific systems.

After the retirement of Benno Parthier, Dierk Scheel became Managing Director of the institute from 1998 to 2004 and later again from 2006 to 2008. Parthier's department was continued in 1999 by Toni Kutchan under the name Natural Product Biotechnology. In 2005, Toni Kutchan also took over the management of the institute, before she accepted a professorship in the United States of America in 2006. Günter Adam was succeeded in 2000 by Ludger Wessjohann, who took over the chemical department of Bioorganic Chemistry. The first external evaluation after the institute’s re-establishment proceeded very positively for the IPB.

In its comments of July 1999, the Science Council wrote:

"The IPB has successfully managed the transformation process required after German unification. The combination of biological questions with the synthesis and analytical competence that is characteristic for the institute is outstanding. There are only a few institutions in Germany and abroad that are comparable to the IPB in terms of the combination and quality of the aforementioned research priorities."

Also after the following evaluation in summer 2006, the Institute received a positive recommendation from the Senate of the Leibniz Association for a further seven-year funding period within the Leibniz Association. The main suggestions of the Senate for the further strategic development of the institute were as follows:
• the introduction of new technologies,
• the establishment of independent junior research groups and
• a stronger networking of the various areas of expertise at IPB.

The institute subsequently developed a new research concept that provided stronger cooperation of the scientific departments in four cross-linked priority areas. In practical terms, this networking was to occur on different technology platforms. The first platform was already established in 2001 as a metabolomics platform in the Department of Stress and Developmental Biology. In 2002, Dierk Scheel also established a bioinformatics group in his department. The IPB's first independent junior research group, led by Marcel Quint, started its research on auxin signal transduction in 2007.

The IPB from 2010: Interconnected into the future

Under Ludger Wessjohann’s directorate, two new departments were founded at the institute. The Department of Natural Product Biotechnology was reorganized into the Department of Molecular Signal Processing led by Steffen Abel. In 2010, Alain Tissier took over the Department of Secondary Metabolism and renamed it Cell and Metabolic Biology. Christiane Cyron became Administrative Director of the institute in 2011. In the same year, following the last evaluation’s recommendation, two further independent junior research groups, led by Nico Dissmeyer and Marco Trujillo were established. In addition, the interdepartmental platforms for cell biology (Bettina Hause) and proteome analysis (Wolfgang Hoehenwarter) were set up. Another positive evaluation in 2013 granted a maximum funding for the IPB for seven more years. To increase its international visibility, the institute began organizing the annual Leibniz Plant Biochemistry Symposium in 2015 endeavoring to establish a leading short conference in the field of plant biochemistry.

60 years Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry:
a brief historical outline

Science in the Mothes period (1958-1967)

Research on alkaloids

Phytohormones

The Institute under the direction of Klaus Schreiber (1968-1989)

Reunification: Re-establishment under Benno Parthier (1989-1997)

Science before and after reunification: Pioneering research on new phytohormones

Launching a new era:
New Technologies and Platforms (1998-2010)

The IPB from 2010: Interconnected into the future

Science in the Mothes period (1958-1967)

The Institute under the direction of Klaus Schreiber (1968-1989)

Science before and after reunification: Pioneering research on new phytohormones

Launching a new era: New Technologies and Platforms (1998-2010)

Launching a new era:
New Technologies and Platforms (1998-2010)