Plant-Microbe Interactions
Plants accommodate on and inside plant roots a specific and species-rich microbiota. These microbes collectively function as a microbiome and, similar to the microbial communities in human or animal guts, they impact nutrition and health of their host. Individual root microbiota members are known to support plant growth e.g., by improving nutrition acquisition or providing pathogen protection. However, we still have a rudimentary understanding how plants interact with their associated microbial communities.
In our research we focus on the functional contribution of the root microbiota to plant growth and disease protection. A particular interest is how plants communicate with the root microbiota and how they influence their activities. Finally, we asses if we can manipulate the root microbiota for smart and sustainable agriculture.
We mainly investigate plant-microbiome interactions using Arabidopsis thaliana and Zea mays as models. We combine field and lab experiments and make use of methods in microbiomics, molecular biology, microbiology, plant genetics and bioinformatics.
► Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ch/citations?hl=de&user=EBmPPr8AAAAJ
Prof. Dr. Klaus Schläppi
University of Basel
Departement of Environmental Sciences
4056 Basel
Tel: +41 61 207 23 10