© Janina Dierks
© Janina Dierks
© Janina Dierks

Research

Crop nutrition and resilience to perturbation such as drought and pests are intricately linked and all determined by plant-soil interactions. With our research we seek to better understand how to harness the critical role that soil microbes and more broadly, plant-soil interactions play in nutrient cycling and crop nutrition, soil water dynamics and crop tolerance to drought as well as crop resilience to pests and disease.

Research approach
© Janina Dierks

Janina Dierks on " Plant-soil interactions for sustainable crop production"

Bild © PhenoRob / YouTube

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are ubiquitous, naturally occurring root symbionts that colonize plant roots and require plant carbohydrates. In return, AM fungi can provide several benefits to plants such as improved access to soil nutrients and resilience to biotic and abiotic stressors.

Water stress
© colourbox

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi  and crop tolerance to water stress

If you are interested to learn more about our research on the role that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi play in crops’ response to water stress, contact Maryam Cissé (mcisse@uni-bonn.de).

Insect herbivory
© colourbox

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
and crop tolerance to insect herbivory

Are you curious to learn more about our research on how crops’ resilience to insect herbivory may be affected by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi? Contact Onikepe Akangbe for more information (oakangbe@uni-bonn.de).

land use
© Janina Dierks

Collaborative Research Centre TRR 228 “Future Rural Africa - Future-making and social-ecological transformation”

Project B01 Invasive Futures - https://crc-trr228.de/b01-invasive-futures/

This project examines the effect of agricultural management practices on the spread of invasive plant species (i.e. Parthenium hysterophorus), soil water dynamics, and crop performance.

For more information, contact Maximus Anochirim (manochir@uni-bonn.de)

Intercropping soy maize
© Alena Vieregge

Cluster of Excellence PhenoRob - Core Project 4 Soil-Root-Interactions for Crop Performance

https://www.phenorob.de/core-projects/index.html

This project examines 1) root growth, 2) phenotypic plasticity of biomass allocation and yield component traits, and 3) resource use efficiency under different soil and management conditions to determine the link between soil-root interactions and plant phenotype. 

For more information, contact Alena Vieregge (avieregg@uni-bonn.de)

Ongoing collaborations