Special distinction for Wulf Amelung: the professor of soil science and soil ecology at the Institute of Crop Sciences and Resource Conservation (INRES) at the University of Bonn and director of the Institute of Agrosphere at Forschungszentrum Jülich has now been admitted to the Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences. Amelung is assigned to the Section of Agricultural and Food Sciences.

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is an old English saying that means apples are healthy, so you should eat one every day. A very special specimen is the type "Adams Parmäne", which is currently on the red list of endangered native crops in Germany. The Wiesengut Teaching and Research Station at the University of Bonn is working with pomologist Barbara Bouillon from the "Biologische Station im Rhein-Sieg-Kreis" to preserve this special apple variety. She shows how this can work and why it is so important right now.

Coevolution between pathogens and host plant immune systems shapes a multifaceted network of interactions that remain phenotypically unrecognised and functionally elusive unless single players are depleted from the system. The maize-colonising fungus Ustilago maydis secretes a complex effector blend in order to suppress defence and redirect host metabolism in its favour. An international research team, including scientist from IPK Leibniz Institute and the University of Bonn, elucidates the effector protein Rip1, which is involved in immunity suppression during biotrophy. The results were published in the journal Plant Cell.

The use of genetically modified (GM) crops in agriculture remains contentious, especially in Europe. According to surveys, many people fear that these could have negative effects for human health and the environment. However, a new study shows that genetically modified crops could actually be good for the environment, and for the climate in particular. Results suggest that the adoption of GM crops in the European Union (EU) could reduce greenhouse gas emissions considerably. The study by scientists from the Breakthrough Institute in the USA and the University of Bonn in Germany was recently published in “Trends in Plant Science”.