Dr. Rainer Höfgen

Group: "Amino Acid and Sulfur Metabolism"

Sulfur is together with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium a plant macronutrient and a crucial element affecting plant growth, plant performance and yield. The group of Dr. Rainer Hoefgen focused on characterising the regulation of cysteine and methionine as a result of sulfate uptake and assimilation in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. 

Cysteine and methionine are two essential amino acids which contain sulfur. The grout around Rainer Höfgen was also looking at interconnections between sulfur metabolism and other plant nutrients. Further, they were investigating means of improving the nutritional quality of crops, with a focus on rice (Oryza sativa) with respect to a balanced amino acid composition.

In their studies of plant sulfur metabolism, they used two mutually supporting approaches as the basis of our research portfolio. The first was a targeted, pathway-oriented approach aimed at understanding pathway architecture and coordination, and the regulation of the sulfur-containing metabolites as such. The second was a non-biased approach in which functional genomics were used to work out how sulfur metabolism is embedded and controlled within the whole plant system.