Members IRTG 1525
The IRTG 1525 faculty consisted of 15 junior and senior faculty members at HHU and the Jülich Research Center, and 20 faculty members at MSU, one of the strongest plant research groups in the United States. Under the umbrella of the common research theme, the scaffold of iGRAD-Plant is build by two parallel and complementary research thrusts. Throughout the 9-year funding period 68 doctoral researchers, 6 postdocs and 8 qualification students participated in the iGRAD-Plant qualification program, 39 of them received DFG-funding, 29 were associated members.
- Petra Bauer (Botany)
- Marion Eisenhut (Molecular Biology of Cyanobacteria)
- Michael Feldbrügge (RNA Biology in Plant Pathogens)
- Vera Göhre (Biochemical Plant Physiology)
- Georg Groth (Biochemical Plant Physiology)
- Andreas Hussner (Plant Biochemistry and Stress Physiology)
- Peter Jahns (Plant Biochemistry and Stress Physiology)
- Martin Lercher (Bioinformatics)
- Nicole Linka (Plant Peroxisomes)
- Shizue Matsubara (Plant Groth and Metabolsim)
- Veronica Maurino (Plant Physiology and Biochemistry)
- Laura Rose (Plant Evolutionary Genetics)
- Daniel Schubert (Plant Developmental Epigenetics)
- Rüdiger Simon (Plant Developmental Genetics)
- Andreas Weber (Plant Biochemistry)
- Peter Westhoff (Molecular Plant Biology)
- Jürgen Zeier (Molecular Aspects of Plant Immunity)
- Matias Zurbriggen (Synthetic Biology)
Associated faculty members were mostly from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Plant Biology and/or the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory at Michigan State University.
- Christoph Benning (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)
- Federica Brandizzi (Plant Biology)
- Robin Buell (Plant Biology)
- Yuehua Cui (Statistics & Probability)
- Brad Day (Plant Pathology)
- Eva Farre (Plant Biology)
- Maren Friesen (Plant Biology)
- Sheng Yang He (Plant Biology)
- Susanne Hoffmann-Benning (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)
- Jianping Hu (Plant Biology)
- Cheryl Kerfeld (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
- David Kramer (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)
- Robert Last (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)
- Jennifer Lau (Plant Biology)
- Beronda Montgomery (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)
- Barbara Sears (Plant Biology)
- Thomas Sharkey (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)
- Shin-Han Shiu (Plant Biology)
- Michael Thomashow (Microbial & Molecular Genetics)
- Jonathan Walton (Plant Biology)
- Curt Wilkerson (Plant Biology)
Speaker HHU
Prof. Dr. Andreas Weber (Plant Biochemistry)
Deputy Speakers
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Simon (Developmental Genetics)
apl. Prof. Dr. Nicole Linka (Plant Biochemistry)
Speaker MSU
Prof. Dr. Barbara B. Sears
Department of Plant Biology, Director Graduate Program in Genetics
Michigan State University
Program Coordinator
Dr. Petra Fackendahl
2023
Summia Gul
Vera Göhre / Michael Feldbrügge - Microbiology
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Role of nuclear localized effectors of Thecaphora thlaspeos in modulation of host defense responses during infection
Current Position:
2022
Seomun Kwon
Michael Feldbrügge - Microbiology
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Messengers outer space: Exploring extracellular vesicles of Ustilago maydis and their RNA cargo
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at HHU (Microbiology)
2021
Nicola Scholten
Jürgen Zeier – Molecular Ecophysiology of Plants
PhD student
Thesis: ldentification and functional characterization of ICS1-dependent metabolites in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) HEYNH.
Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at HHU
Jenia Schlegel
Rüdiger Simon – Plant Developmental Genetics
PhD student
Thesis: The role of CLE40 in shoot stem cell homeostasis
Current Position: Junior Product Manager (MACSima) at Miltenyi Biotec
Daniel Hartleb
Martin Lercher – Computational Cell Biology
PhD student
Thesis : Bi-Level optimization algorithms for improving genome-scale metabolic models
Current Position:
Maria Paola Puggioni
Shizue Matsubara – FZ Jülich (Regulation of photoacclimation and carotenoid biosynthesis)
PhD student
Thesis: Dynamic Regulation of Oxygenic Photosynthesis: Study of Long term Acclimation to Photo-oxidative Stress induced by Excess of Light
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at Umea Plant Science Center
2020
Marc-Sven Röll
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
associated PhD student
Thesis: Natural and synthetic metabolism of plant photorespiration
Current Position:
Daniela Lichtblau
Petra Bauer - Botany
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Targeted screen for novel protein-protein interactions and their role in iron deficiency response regulation
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at HHU (Botany)
Eva Maleckova
Andreas Weber - Plant Biochemistry
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Regulation of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in the facultative CAM species Talinum triangulare
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at HHU (Microbiology)
Rocio Ochoa-Fernandez
Matias Zurbriggen – Synthetic Biology
associated PhD student
Thesis: Development of Optogenetic Tools for Plant Synthetic Biology
Current Position:
Franziska Kuhnert
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
associated PhD student
Thesis: The Role of Organellar Transporters in C3/C4-Metabolism
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at HHU (Plant Biochemistry)
Hugo de Morais Dourado Neto
Martin Lercher – Computational Cell Biology
Associated PhD student
Thesis : Quantitative Principles of Optimal Cellular Resource Allocation
Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at HHU (Computational Cell Biology)
Yu Fu
Daniel Schubert – Plant Developmental Epigentics (now at FU Berlin)
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Cell-type specific epi-genomic studies in Arabidopsis thaliana
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Plant Protection
Meng-Ying Lin
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
associated PhD student
Thesis: Studies into the genetic architecture of C3-C4 characteristic in Moricandia
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at HHU (Plant Biochemistry)
Lennart Cahrton
Nicole Linka – Plant Biochemistry
associated PhD student
Thesis: Elucidate the important role of peroxisomal transport proteins for plant growth and development
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at Bayer
Mohammad Tanbir Habib
Laura Rose - Population Genetics
PhD student
Thesis: Evolutionary dynamics of LysM and LRR type symbiotic receptor-like kinases and species-specificity in root-nodule symbiosis
Current Position:
2019
Birte Schwarz
Petra Bauer - Botany
PhD student
Thesis : Putative cis-regulatory elements and protein interaction networks control iron deficiency responses in Arabidopsis thaliana
Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at Leibniz Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ)
Amirhossein Bahramisharif
Laura Rose – Population Genetics
Associated PhD student
Thesis : The evolution of efector genes in oomycetes and biological control
Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at HHU (Population Genetics)
Anastasiia Bovdilova
Veronica Maurino – Plant Molecular Physiology and Biotechnology
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Molecular adaptions and post-translational regulation of C4-NADP-malic enzyme
Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at HHU (Plant Biochemistry and stress Physiology)
2018
Björn Hielscher
Nicole Linka – Plant Biochemistry
PhD student
Thesis: Connecting metabolic networks - The role of the Mitochondiral Carrier Family in plants
Current Position: Medical Advisor at GHG, Düsseldorf
Shipan Das Gupta
Peter Westhoff - Developmental an Molecular Biology of Plants
PhD student
Thesis: Characterization of mesophyll-specific promoters for C$ engineering of rice and mutational analysis of leaf anatomy in Arabidopsis thaliana
Current Position:
Assistant Professor of Biotechnology & Genetic Enngineering department Noakhali Science and Technology University
Jonathan Fritzemeier
Martin Lercher - Computational Cell Biology
Postdoc
Current position: Senior Analyst at A.T. Kearny, Düsseldorf
Sarah Richards
Laura Rose – Population Genetics
PhD student
Thesis: Mathematical Modeling and Evolutionary Alayses of Cell-Surface Signaling in Plants
Current Position: Postdoc and lecturer at HHU
Regina Gratz
Petra Bauer – Botany
Associated PhD student
Thesis: FER-LIKE IRON DEFICIENCY-INDUCED TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR (FIT) activity is controlled by protein phosphorylation
Current Position: Postdoc at at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Umeå - Sweden Prof. Torgny Näsholm)
Florian Hahn
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Genome Editing and establishment of efficient gene targeting approaches in Arabidopsis using the CRISPR/cas9 system
Current Position: Postdoc at Rothamsted Research, UK (Vladimir Nekrasov)
Dagbegnon Angelo Romeo Agossou Yao
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Plant alanine transferase: Cloning, localization and molecular characterization
Current Position:
Kaitlyn Courville
Michael Feldbrügge – Microbiology
PhD student
Thesis: The infection biology of the smut fungus Thecaphora thaspeos and its molecular cross-talk with its Brassicaceae hosts
Current Position:
Alexander Hofmann
Georg Groth – Biochemical Plant Physiology
PhD student
Thesis: Biochemische Charakterisierung der Komponenten des ERECTA-Signalwegs
Current Position: Postdoc at HHU (Biochemical Plant Physiology)
2017
Fabian Brandenburg
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Manganese Homeostasis in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PPC 6803
Current Position: Postdoc at Helmholtzzentrum für Umweltforschung Leipzig (Andreas Schmid)
Ian Beddows
Laura Rose – Population Genetics
PhD student (fast-track)
Thesis : Hybridization and Wild Tomato
Current Position: Bioinformatics Research Scientist at Van Andel Institute, MI, USA
Myles Levey
Peter Westhoff - Developmental an Molecular Biology of Plants
Associated PhD student
Thesis : Die Expression des photorespiratorischen Gens 2-Phosphoglycolat-Phosphatase im Genus Flaveria und die Folgen einer beeinträchtigten Photorespiration für die C4-Pflanze Flaveria bidentis
Current Position: Teacher
2016
David Heckmann
Martin Lercher – Computational Cell Biology
PhD student (fast-track) 2010 – 2014
Thesis: Mathematical modelling of metabolism applied to the evolution of photosynthesis
iGRAD-Plant Postdoc 2014 – 2016
Current Position: Postdoc at University of California, San Diego (Bioengineering; Bernhard Palsson)
Sophie de Vries
Laura Rose – Population Genetics
Associated PhD student
Thesis : The role of the RNA silencing network on the co-evolution of Phytophthora infestans and Solanum spp.
Current Position: Postdoc at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada (Claudio Slamovits)
Lamprinos Frantzeskakis
Michael Feldbrügge – Microbiology
PhD student
Thesis: The genome of the fungal plant pathogen Thecaphora thlaspeos
Current Position: Postdoc at RWTH Aachen (Ralf Panstruga)
Dominik Brilhaus
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
PhD student (fast track)
Thesis: Transcriptional adaptation in response to changing environments in plants with specialized photosynthesis types
Current Position: Postdoc at HHU (Plant Biochemistry)
Julia Kleinmanns
Daniel Schubert – Plant Developmental Epigentics (now at FU Berlin)
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Studies on the regulation of Polycomb-target genes and abiotic stress responses by the Arabidopsis protein BLISTER
Current Position: Postdoc at University of California, San Diego, Cell and Developmental Biology
Julia Schmid
Rüdiger Simon – Plant Developmental Genetics
Associated PhD student
Thesis: On the Role of CLE40 - A Peptide with Antagonistic Functions in Arabidopsis thaliana Shoot Meristem Development
Current Position:
Adrian Hülsewede
Rüdiger Simon – Developmental Genetics
PhD student
Thesis: Functional characterization and analysis of the ARABIDOPSIS CRINKLY 4 promoter
Current Position: Postdoc at HHU (Developmental Genetics)
2015
Viviana Correa Galvis
Peter Jahns – Plant Biochemistry and stress Physiology
PhD student (fast-track)
Thesis: The role of the PsbS protein in the regulation of energy dissipation in vascular plants and green algae
Current Position: Postdoc at Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Golm (Ute Armbruster)
Alisandra Denton
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
PhD student (fast-track)
Thesis: Establishment of C4 Photosynthesis in Ontogeny and Evolution
Current Position: Postdoc at RWTH Aachen (Björn Usadel)
Lazar Pavlovic
Peter Jahns – Plant Biochemistry and stress Physiology
PhD student (fast-track)
Thesis: Regulation of energy-dependent quenching (qE) of excess light by the thylakoid transmembrane electric field (Dy) as a dynamic component of the chloroplast proton motive force (pmf)
Current Position: Regulatory Portfolio Manager at Syngenta, Canada
Anna Kersting
Martin Lercher – Computational Cell Biology
iGRAD-Plant Postdoc 2012 – 2013 / 2015
Current Position:
Thorsten Langner
Michael Feldbrügge – Microbiology
PhD student
Thesis: Charakterisierung der chitinolytischen Maschinerie aus Ustilago maydis
Current Position: Postdoc at Sainsbury Lab, Norwich, UK (Sophien Kamoun)
Friederike Bernsdorff
Jürgen Zeier – Molecular Ecophysiology of Plants
PhD student
Thesis: On the role of amino acids in plant disease resistance: Interplay between pipecolic acid and salicylic acid in plant systemic acquired resistance
First position after PhD: Postdoc at John Innes Center, UK (Saskia Hogenhout)
Current Position: Research Support Officer at EMBL-EBI, UK
Canan Külahoglu
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
PhD student
Thesis: The Transcriptomic Blueprint of C4 Photosynthesis
Current Position:
2014
Tatjana Levey
Peter Westhoff – Developmental an Molecular Biology of Plants
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Die Funktionen der Gene HCF107 und HCF222 bei der Biogenese der Thylakoidmembran in Arabidopsis thaliana
Current Position: Quality Manager at KHK, Cologne
Sophia Aldous
Peter Westhoff – Developmental an Molecular Biology of Plants
PhD student
Thesis: In planta inactivation of the C4 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) gene of Flaveria bidentis and evolutionary analyses of the PEPC protein kinase (PPCK) gene family of Flaveria
Current Position:
Jan Wiese
Nicole Linka – Plant Biochemistry
PhD student
Thesis: Propionate metabolism in yeast and plants
Current Position:
Borjana Arsova
Independent iGRAD-Plant Postdoc 2012 – 2014
Current Position: Chargé de Recherches (F.N.R.S.), Université Liege; since 04 2016: Guest scientist at IBG2 Forschungszentrum Jülich
2013
Sarah Keßel-Vigelius
Nicole Linka – Plant Biochemistry
PhD student
Thesis: Toward intracellular membrane Transport-Characterization of the Mitochondrial Carrier Family in Plants
Current Position: Sales Representative Pharmaceuticals, Bayer HealthCare
Judith Paulus
Georg Groth – Biochemical Plant Physiology
PhD student
Thesis: Kristallisation und vergleichende Strukturuntersuchung der Phosphoenolpyruvat Carboxylase aus der C3 Pflanze Flaveria pringlei und der C4 Pflanze Flaveria trinervia
First Position after PhD: Sales Consultant at Capsid GmbH, Düsseldorf
Current Position: Postdoc at University of Oxford (Renier van der Hoorn)
Stefanie Schulze
Peter Westhoff – Developmental an Molecular Biology of Plants
Associated PhD student
Thesis: Evolution of the expression of the GLDP gene family encoding the P subunit of glycine decarboxylase in the genus Flaveria
First Position after PhD: Postdoc at HHU (CEPLAS)
Current Position: Postdoc at HHU (Developmental an Molecular Biology of Plants)
Frederique Breuers
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
Associated PhD student
Thesis: The dynamics of plastid membrane systems
Current Position: Regional Manager at Santis GmbH, Ulm
Rene Wink
Rüdiger Simon – Plant Developmental Genetics
PhD student
Thesis: On the funtion of peptide signaling pathways in the root meristem of Arabidopsis thaliana
First Position after PhD: Postdoc at HHU
Current Position: Postdoctoral at WPI-Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, Nagoya University, Japan
2012
Tom Ruts
Shizue Matsubara – FZ Jülich
PhD student
Thesis: Diel growth rhythms in plants - Circadian control and environmental response
First position after PhD: Systembiologe - Crop Trait Knowledge at BASF Plant Sciences, Belgium
Current Position: Regulatory Affairs Specialist Biotechnology and Crop Protection at Monsanto, Belgium
Kristin Bernhardt
Nicole Linka – Plant Biochemistry
Associated PhD student
Thesis: The role of a peroxisomal NAD+ carrier in plants
Current Position:
Thea Pick
Andreas Weber – Plant Biochemistry
Associated PhD student
Thesis: A systems biology approach and single gene analysis to identify transporters and regulatory proteins in the plant carbon cycle
First Position after PhD: Postdoc at HHU (CEPLAS)
Current Position: Postdoc Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA (DFG Research Fellowship)
2011
Christian Eßer
Martin Lercher – Computational Cell Biology
iGRAD-Plant Postdoc 2010 – 2011
2012 – 2013: Postdoc at HHU (Computational Cell Biology)
Current Position: Software Engineer at Varion GmbH