Research Area 1
Optimizing Plant Performance by Mapping the Interface between Development and Metabolism
The goal of Research Area (RA) 1 is to determine how three largely disconnected fields, metabolism, life history, and development, are integrated to optimize plant performance.
Reproductive success and plant performance depend on integrating developmental decisions with metabolism across different scales, from cells to tissues, organs, and whole plants. For example, efficient photosynthetic carbon assimilation requires distinct spatial patterns of cellular differentiation in leaves, whereas the timing of floral induction is modulated according to the carbon status. These established examples inspired RA1 to initially focus on the interface between carbon metabolism, developmental processes, and life-history traits. A major underlying approach is to exploit variation between related species that use different strategies for integrating development and metabolism, such as those with compound versus simple leaves, C3 versus C4 metabolism, or annual versus perennial life history. We will utilize these systems to determine (1) how leaf form and anatomy are functionally related to photosynthetic physiology and plant performance; (2) how plant metabolic status is integrated with developmental decision making in meristems to influence yield and fitness; and (3) how vasculature and plasmodesmata contribute to resource allocation between plant organs and tissues at different developmental stages. A central goal is to determine predictive links between developmental processes and metabolic pathways at critical stages of the plant life cycle.
Coordinators
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Simon
Institute of Developmental Genetics
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Dr. Shizue Matsubara
Institute of Bio and Geosciences-2 (IBG-2)
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Members
Prof. Dr. Ute Armbruster
Principal Investigator, Research Area 1, 3
Prof. Dr. Petra Bauer
Dr. Ranju Chutia
CEPLAS Researcher, Research Area 1
Prof. Dr. George Coupland
Dr. Edgar Demesa-Arevalo
Prof. Dr. Oliver Ebenhöh
Jona Ejike
Doctoral Researcher, Research Area 1
Dr. Franziska Fichtner
Dr. Pau Formosa-Jordan
Prof. Dr. Wolf B. Frommer
Moritz Göbel
Doctoral Researcher, Research Area 1
Prof. Dr. Georg Groth
Dr. Marjorie Guichard
Dr. Shishir K Gupta
Dr. Thomas Hartwig
Dr. Angela Hay
Dr. Götz Hensel
Prof. Dr. Tatjana Hildebrandt
Prof. Dr. Ute Höcker
Dr. Yuuma Ishikawa
apl. Prof. Dr. Peter Jahns
Dr. Suhyun Jin
CEPLAS Researcher, Research Area 1
Dr. Poonam Kanwar
Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Area 1,2
Prof. Dr. Gunnar W. Klau
Prof. Dr. Stanislav Kopriva
Prof. Dr. Maria von Korff Schmising
Principal Investigator, Research Area 1,2,4
Dr. José Miguel Valderrama Martín
Dr. Shizue Matsubara
Contributing Investigator, Research Area 1,3
Prof. Dr. Raphaël Mercier
Dr. Yohanna Miotto
Dr. Alice Pajoro
Prof. Dr. Markus Pauly
Anastasija Plett
Dr. Jesús Praena Tamayo
Dr. Parisa Rahimzadeh Karvansara
Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Area 1,3
Laura Redzich
Dr. Daniela Ristova
Dr. Kirill Schenstniy
Dr. Urte Schlüter
Group leader, Research Area 1
Prof. Dr. Korbinian Schneeberger
Contributing Investigator, Research Area 1,4
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schurr
Emely Silz
Doctoral Researcher, Research Area 1
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Simon
Prof. Dr. Markus Stetter
Contributing Investigator, Research Area 1,4
Prof. Dr. Benjamin Stich
Dr. Jędrzej Jakub Szymański
Meik Thiele
Doctoral Researcher, Research Area 1
Prof. Dr. Nadine Töpfer
Sebastian Triesch
Prof. Dr. Miltos Tsiantis
Principal Investigator, Research Area 1,3,4
Dr. Franziska Turck
Prof. Dr. Björn Usadel
Dr. Agatha Alexandra Walla
CEPLAS Researcher, Research Area 1