Plant Ecological Genetics Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Overview

About the program

Ecosystems are threatened worldwide by anthropogenic degradation, fragmentation and rapid climate change. Plants are critical for nearly all food webs and thus for the functioning of ecosystems.

In this Plant Ecological Genetics CRC at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, we therefore address the fundamental question: What are the genetic underpinnings of plant responses and adaptation to environmental change? To address this question, we will dissect the genetics of adaptation in plant species with contrasting abilities to grow under limited resources, abiotic stress, and competition with other plants.

Using state-of-the-art genetic technologies with a combination of field surveys and controlled environmental manipulations, we will identify the genetic variation that controls survival and reproduction in response to altered resource availability, abiotic stress and plant-plant competition pressures.