Volatile-mediated impact of bacteria on plants
Plant-microbe Interactions, Microbiology
Increasing evidence indicates that bacteria can interact with other organisms (e.g. plants or fungi) through the emission of volatile compounds. The aim of our research is to better understand this newly discovered volatile-mediated effect of bacteria on plants. We have tested a large number of rhizosphere strains belonging to different bacterial genera for volatile-mediated impact on the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana. Our first results indicate that bacterial volatiles lead to drastic changes in plant growth, from 6-fold growth promotion to plant death. These effects were strain-specific and depended to a large extent on the culture medium used to grow the bacteria. We have identified candidate volatiles, which either promote or inhibit plant growth when used as pure substances. We are now in the process of elucidating how these compounds are perceived by the plant and how they interfere with plant metabolism to cause the observed growth alterations. To this end, we are using physiological assays and relevant mutant lines of Arabidopsis, in collaboration with the group of Thomas Boller at the University of Basel.
Research topics
Chemical communication between bacteria and plants
Biogeography of soil bacterial communities
Mechanisms of low pH tolerance in soil bacteria
Bacterial tolerance to heavy metals
Chemical communication in bacteria
Interdisciplinary
Plant-bacteria interactions, collaboration with Thomas Boller
Chemical ecology, collaboration with Florian Schiestl
Plant-fungi interactions
