Research Interests of the Crop Physiology group & the Bienert lab
FOOD-SECURITY - nutrient efficiency - water efficiency - stress tolerance
- Exploration of metalloid- and water-efficiency mechanisms in crops and their underlying genes
- Unravelling dynamic root plasticity mechanisms allowing to cope with climatic-caused water & nutrient stress periods
METHOD DEVELOPMENT - smart phenotyping - precision farming
- Development of B deficiency markers
- Development of growth set-ups suitable to phenotype root growth and development under nutrient limiting conditions
FOOD-SAFETY - healthy food
- Generation of nutrient-specific but toxic mineral impermeable plant uptake proteins
- Development of healthy crops with reduced toxic metal(loid) levels in edible plant parts
MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES - cellular metabolism - tissue functions
- Unravelling of the molecular role of B in root hair, floral and vascular development
- Elucidation of a potential role of B in methylation reactions in plants (and other organisms)
The Crop Physiology group focuses on the understanding of the function and regulation of genes and proteins and relevant mechanisms in crop plants, which allow optimizing biotechnologically and agriculturally quality- and yield traits related to their metalloid metabolism and in dependence of the plants water status. We aim at generating knowledge, which is beneficial for society in terms of food-security (nutrient and water efficiency, stress tolerance) and food-safety (healthy-food).