Our PhD candidate Nora Zöllner has successfully defended her thesis entitled “Characterization of the infection process in rice bacterial blight by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae” and was awarded the grade summa cum laude, the highest distinction for outstanding scientific achievement.

In her research, she investigated bacterial blight of rice, one of the most devastating plant diseases worldwide. She demonstrated how the pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae manipulates host metabolism to gain access to sugar resources. A key achievement of her work is the identification of a conserved sux gene cluster involved in sucrose uptake and utilization. In addition, Nora developed innovative biosensors that enable precise monitoring of sugar dynamics during host–pathogen interactions. Her findings provide important new insights into the infection process and open up promising avenues for the development of disease-resistant crops.

We warmly congratulate Nora on this outstanding achievement and wish her all the best for her future career!

Dr. Eliza Loo has been awarded funding from the Klaus Tschira Boost Fund for her research project on plant microbiomes.

Plants exist in close association with complex microbial communities, their microbiome, which plays a crucial role in nutrient supply, growth, and disease resistance. Harnessing these interactions, for example through the use of bioinoculants, is considered a promising strategy for more sustainable agriculture. However, it remains poorly understood how introduced beneficial microbes successfully integrate into existing microbial communities. 

The funded project, “Predictive Rhizobiome Networks for Functional Microbiome Engineering,” aims to address this challenge by systematically mapping root-associated microbiomes and analyzing their metabolic activity. Based on these data, predictive interaction networks will be developed to identify microbial combinations that can be successfully integrated and enhance plant performance. 

In the long term, this research seeks to enable the targeted design of efficient microbial consortia to improve crop resilience and productivity.

Read the full original article in German here: Full article

The Healthy Crops project, in collaboration with the Bürgeruniversität of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, hosted a public event titled “Strengthening Crops, Securing the Future – Research for Healthy Harvests” at the Haus der Universität in Düsseldorf. The event combined scientific lectures with interactive formats to engage a broad audience with current challenges and innovations in plant science. The program opened with a talk by Dr. Marcel Buchholzer on global food security, using rice as a model to illustrate the interplay of biotic stress, climate change, and population growth. Strategies to secure and increase crop yields were discussed, ranging from conventional breeding to modern genome editing approaches. A second lecture by Prof. Wolf Frommer highlighted the fundamental role of mutations as drivers of plant diversity and evolution, addressing common misconceptions and outlining their application in both traditional and modern breeding. The Healthy Crops project was then presented as a practical response to biotic challenges in agriculture, showcasing newly developed plant lines and their relevance for sustainable crop production.

The subsequent interactive session, “Plant Research Hands-On”, enabled participants to explore plant science directly. Visitors examined rice varieties under the microscope, engaged with quiz-based learning formats, and explored the global scope of the project through a world map installation. Additional stations illustrated the diversity of Brassica crops and introduced the principles of genome editing in a broader scientific context. Overall, the event successfully combined scientific rigor with accessible communication and fostered dialogue between researchers and the public, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to global food security.

We warmly congratulate our doctoral student Laura Redzich on the successful defense of her doctoral thesis entitled "Spatiotemporal investigation of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae infection trajectories and the functional impact of SWEET promoter editing."

In her thesis, Laura investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of rice infection by a widespread rice pathogen and analyzed the functional impact of targeted editing of SWEET promoters on disease development. Her findings provide valuable new insights into the molecular interactions between pathogen and host and contribute significantly to the development of innovative strategies for sustainable disease resistance in rice.

We would like to thank Laura for her great commitment and outstanding scientific work and wish her all the best and every success in her future professional and personal endeavors.

Results from nationwide Indian AICRIP (All India Coordinated Research Project on Rice) field trials show that the genome-edited rice variety Kamala achieves an average yield increase of 19 percent compared to established reference varieties. Kamala is based on an elite rice variety and was developed by fine-tuning the activity of a cytokinin oxidase gene using genome editing.

The increased yield was consistently observed under practical field conditions and underscores the potential of precise genome editing approaches to sustainably increase agricultural productivity. The scientific results were published as a preprint on bioRxiv (link to publication).

Kamala was developed in close collaboration with Satendra Mangrauthia and Indian partner institutions. The line has now been officially registered as a new rice variety in India and can, in principle, be approved for cultivation under current Indian government regulations, as it does not contain any transgenic sequences.

The registration of Kamala has been publicly criticized by The Coalition for a GM Free India. In this context, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has published an official statement explaining the scientific and regulatory classification of the variety (link to statement).