Departments

Root Biology and Symbiosis
Prof. Dr. Caroline Gutjahr's department studies the symbiosis between soil fungi and plant roots. This symbiosis is called mycorrhiza and is of great importance for the growth and health of plants.

Research groups

Mycorrhiza and Root Biology (Prof. Dr. Caroline Gutjahr)
Central Metabolism
(Dr. Alisdair Fernie)

Receptor structures at the plant-microbe interface (Dr. Alexander Förderer)
The Genetics of Crop Metabolism (Dr. Saleh Alseekh)
Plant Reproductive Biology and Epigenetics
The department of Prof. Dr. Claudia Köhler with three different research groups studies genetic and epigenetic processes regulating flowering plant reproduction and their impact on plant speciation. The main focus is to understand processes regulating seed formation, seed growth and the establishment of hybridization barriers.

Research groups

Epigenetic Mechanisms of Plant Reproduction (Prof. Dr. Claudia Köhler)
Seed Development and Apomixis (Dr. Duarte Figueiredo)
Intercellular Macromolecular Transport (Dr. Fritz Kragler)
Organelle Biology, Biotechnology and Molecular Ecophysiology
Research of three research groups in the Department of Professor Dr. Ralph Bock focuses on the biology of the two DNA-containing cell organelles in plants, plastids (chloroplasts) and mitochondria, and their integration with the nucleocytosolic compartment.

Research groups

Organelle Biology and Biotechnology (Prof. Dr. Ralph Bock)
Biophysics and Photosynthesis Research (Dr. Mark Aurel Schöttler)
Translational Regulation in Plants (Dr. Reimo Zoschke)

Department-Independent Research Groups

Current News


Rice with a high protein content developed

Rice with a high protein content developed

October 10, 2024
Researchers are breeding protein-rich rice varieties that cause minimal increase in blood sugar levels
ERC funds fundamental research on chloroplast and mitochondrial inheritance

ERC funds fundamental research on chloroplast and mitochondrial inheritance

September 05, 2024
Dr. Kin Pan Chung, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP) in Potsdam Germany, receives an ERC Starting Grant worth € 1.5 million for the project “CytoInP” to investigate cytoplasmic inheritance in plants.
Jeff Schell Prizes awarded for unraveling an assembly line in plants and a parental conflict in seeds

Jeff Schell Prizes awarded for unraveling an assembly line in plants and a parental conflict in seeds

September 03, 2024
Dr. David Rolo and Dr. Nicolas Butel receive the Jeff Schell Prize for excellent young scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
 

Recent Research Highlights

Journal Article (107)

Tiozon, R. J. N., Alseekh, S., Fernie, A. R., Bonto, A. P., Yu, J., Buenafe, R. J. Q. & Sreenivasulu, N. Comprehensive lipidomic insights of differentially accumulating lipids in large pigmented rice sprout collection and the changes in the starch composition upon germination. Food Chemistry 460, (2024).
Qiu, Y., Li, Z. & Köhler, C. Ancestral duplication of MADS-box genes in land plants empowered the functional divergence between sporophytes and gametophytes. New Phytologist 244, 358–363 (2024).
Li, B., Armarego-Marriott, T., Kowalewska, Ł., Thiele, W., Erban, A., Ruf, S., Kopka, J., Schöttler, M. A. & Bock, R. Membrane protein provision controls prothylakoid biogenesis in tobacco etioplasts. The Plant Cell (2024). doi:10.1093/plcell/koae259
von Steimker, J., Tripodi, P., Wendenburg, R., Tringovska, I., Nankar, A. N., Stoeva, V., Pasev, G., Klemmer, A., Todorova, V., Bulut, M., Tikunov, Y., Bovy, A., Gechev, T., Kostova, D., Fernie, A. R. & Alseekh, S. The genetic architecture of the pepper metabolome and the biosynthesis of its signature capsianoside metabolites. Current Biology 34, 4209–4223 (2024).
Badoni, S., Pasion-Uy, E. A., Kor, S., Kim, S.-R., Tiozon, R. J. N., Misra, G., Buenafe, R. J. Q., Labarga, L. M., Ramos-Castrosanto, A. R., Pratap, V., Slamet-Loedin, I., von Steimker, J., Alseekh, S., Fernie, A. R., Kohli, A., Khush, G. S. & Sreenivasulu, N. Multiomics of a rice population identifies genes and genomic regions that bestow low glycemic index and high protein content. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 121, (2024).

Events

No events

Seminars

Convergent evolution of flowers following independent mating system shifts

Oct 16, 2024 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Central Building, Room: Seminar Room

Transcriptional control in plants

Nov 8, 2024 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Central Building, Room: Seminar Room

How to silence a gene? Insights from a cold-induced epigenetic switch

Nov 13, 2024 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Central Building, Room: Seminar Room

How to join MPI-MP

IMPRS and PhD programme
University graduates who are interested in modern plant research can work on their doctorate at our institute. Our doctoral programme is open to students from all countries. The doctoral research is done under the guidance of our directors, group leaders and senior scientists. We work closely with the Faculty of Science at the University of Potsdam where most of our doctoral researchers are registered and enrolled during their doctorate. The doctoral thesis is submitted and defended at the University, which also confers the doctoral degree.

Further Information


Events

Events

Those who want to visit the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology and want to learn more about the research at the institute can do so in various ways. The institute takes part in a number of events every year and also organizes events itself.
Media Library

Media Library

Scientists of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology are are well-known experts in their field of study. In the movies shown here, which are either excerpts from TV shows or short individual productions, they give you an insight into their work.
Flyer and Brochures

Flyer and Brochures

On the following pages you will find various brochures of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology. You can also download the documents as PDF files.
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