Infrastructure Groups and Service Units

The MPI-MP supports so called Infrastructure Groups and Service Units. The leaders of these groups provide support within their areas of expertise for other institute scientists while most of them simultaneously run their own research programmes.
The “Applied Metabolome Analysis” research group of Dr. Joachim Kopka provides gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolite profiling technologies to scientists of the MPIMP and to cooperating external partner groups.  In 1998 Dr. Joachim Kopka co-initiated the application of the multi-parallel GC-MS based profiling technology in the metabolomic field at the MPI-MP and at the Metanomics GmbH & CoKG.
The Bioinformatics group supports the experimental research activities at the institute by applying and developing bioinformatics methods and algorithms for the analyses of complex datasets. The rapid advancement and broad adoption of novel sequencing technologies has moved genomics research questions into the focus of our collaborative and our own research activities. In addition, the group pursues research questions in the field of Structural Bioinformatics and develops databases, bioinformatics software and data management solutions.
The mission of Dr. Mark Aurel Schöttler's central infrastructure group “Biophysics and Photosynthesis” is to support photosynthesis-related measurements in the institute. To this end, the group offers gas exchange and chlorophyll-a fluorescence measurements as routine service techniques. 
Imaging approaches are central to our comprehension of the organization and interaction of molecules in biological systems. The infrastructure group led by Dr. Arun Sampathkumar provides research groups at the MPI-MP with access to a technology platform containing light and electron microscopes, as well as scientific and technical assistance to meet their cell biological needs. The group also undertakes research that focuses on understanding how the structural components of the cell (cell wall and the cytoskeleton) influence growth rates and directions in plants.
The infrastructure group of Dr. Karin Köhl develops and uses reproducible and efficient methods for plant cultivation in phytotrons, greenhouse, polytunnel-screenhouse and in the field. These resources permit to conduct large-scale experiments like genome wide association studies (GWAS) under controlled and variable climate conditions. Furthermore, we perform routine Agrobacterium-mediated transformations of Arabidopsis and Solanaceae as a service to the entire institute.
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