Kolloquium der Biologisch-Pharmazeutischen Fakultät

Root-fungus interactions: How to get from basic research to application

Prof. Philipp Franken

Leibniz-Institut für Gemüse- und Zierpflanzenbau Erfurt

Plant roots are colonised by different types of fungi which can have positive or negative effects on plant performances. Understanding these interactions is of crucial importance for their application in plant production systems in order to support the uptake of nutrients and water and to increase resistance and tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses. Research concerns at first the plant side in order to provide tools for breeding of new cultivars more responsive to inoculation with root-colonising fungi. This is currently investigated in the model crop petunia. Secondly, these fungi need to be improved for application by combination with hyphae-colonising bacteria and by adaptation to abiotic stress during inoculum production. At third, the impact of the environment on the outcome of the interactions has to be assessed in order to create suitable conditions in artificial horticultural systems or to predict the result of their application in the field.