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Molecular Plant Nutrition (MPE)
Head: Prof Nicolaus von Wirén
The Molecular Plant Nutrition research group investigates the transport and metabolism of mineral nutrients, their impact on phytohormaonal regulation as well as their role in physiological and morphological adaptations of plants to stress or to agricultural production conditions. Research includes nutrient sensing mechanisms, like directed growth responses of roots to local nutrient supplies or to systemic plant signals, mechanisms of nutrient accumulation in seeds as well as the redox- or nutrient-dependent regulation of stress responses.
Moreover, MPE offers IPK-wide and beyond access to its technical platforms consisting of UPLC-MS/MS (phytohormones), HR-ICP-MS (mineral elements), IR-MS (Stable isotopes) and IC/LC-MS (primary metabolites and specific metabolite groups).
Thematically, our group´s activities follow three major research axes:

- Nutrient-dependent regulation of root architecture
- Ammonium sensing in plant roots Stress
- Improvement of stess tolerance by redox-active proteins
- Catch crop root formation and its impact on nutrient carry-over in agricultural systems
- Importance of root senescence in crop plant performance
- Iron acquisition by coumarin-type siderophores
- Source-sink and phytohormone-dependent regulation of tiller formation versus nodal rooting
- Abiotic stress alleviation by silicon
- Screening for weat lines with enhanced nitrogen uptake capasities