Welcome to our homepage
Welcome to the homepage of the Department of Plant Physiology at the Ruhr University Bochum. You’ll find here a short tour through the Department of Plant Physiology, an overview of current research and an opportunity to meet our staff. For further information, click on the links embedded in the following introductory texts or use the navigation bar on the left margin of this page.
Evolutionary Functional Genomics & Metal Homeostasis Networks (Krämer)
In our research on Evolutionary Functional Genomics and Metal Homeostasis Networks, we pursue an interdisciplinary approach to develop a comprehensive understanding of the function and evolution of an important biological network. The advantage of plants as model organisms is their experimental flexibility and the ease of sampling of natural populations at locations where selection pressures that have shaped their evolution are still present. Genome sequence data, genomics tools, transformation techniques and knockout mutant collections have increasingly become available in the past decade and are being expanded rapidly.
Biology of Cyclooxylipins
Oxylipins are oxidation products of fatty acids which often show a characteristic physiological activity. Cyclic oxylipins, e. g., jasmonic acid, 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid or the cyclogalactolipids recently discovered in our lab are a particularly interesting group of compounds. Several research groups work on different aspects of cyclooxylipin biology, including cyclooxylipin biosynthesis, the jasmonic acid signaling pathway (Dr. Ines Kubigsteltig) and the functions of cyclooxylipin-regulated genes (Dr. Heike Holländer-Czytko).
Molecular Enzymology of C/N-hydrolases (Piotrowski)
Carbon-nitrogen-(C-N-)bonds play a significant role in metabolism, and they occur in the form of single, double or triple bonds. The group of Dr. Markus Piotrowski is interested in the functional expression, evolution and physiological roles of C/N-hydrolases as well as in studying their reaction mechanisms. Members of a group of C/N-hydrolases, the nitrilases, play a role in IAA-biosynthesis in the Brassicaceae.
Infrastructure
Our research is intended to improve our knowledge about plant metabolism and development. Thus, research programs are interdependent, and there are many methodological overlaps. At the institute, we use a broad and modern common infrastructure.
Teaching
Lectures and courses are given covering all aspects of plant physiology at the undergraduate and graduate levels. (Vorlesungen: Biologie IV (Pflanzenphysiologie); Stoffwechselphysiologie der Pflanzen; Molekulare Entwicklungsbiologie Höherer Pflanzen; Praktika: Pflanzenphysiologische Übungen; A-Modul; S-Modul; G-Block Pflanzenphysiologie; S-Block Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie; Seminare; Graduiertenkolleg Biogenese und Mechanismen komplexer Zellfunktionen.)
Research groups
Prof. Ute Krämer, Dr. Heike Holländer-Czytko, Dr. Ines Kubigsteltig, Dr. Markus Piotrowski, Prof. Danja Schünemann
