Team Wolfgang Zierer

  • Uwe Sonnewald

    Prof. Dr.

    Uwe Sonnewald is head of the division of biochemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU). He leads a research group trying to improve plant yield under optimal and stressful environmental …

  • Wolfgang Zierer

    Dr.

    Wolfgang Zierer is a group leader at the division of biochemistry under Prof. Uwe Sonnewald at the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. His group investigates source/sink relations by developing …

  • Christian Lamm

    Dr.

    Christian Lamm is a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Wolfgang Zierer at the Division of Biochemistry in Erlangen, Germany. The group’s major interest is focused on the application and evaluation of biotechnological …

  • David Rüscher

    David Rüscher is a PhD student in the group of Wolfgang Zierer at the division of biochemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He is interested in biotechnological advances in crop sciences to …

  • Sindy Gutschker

    Sindy Gutschker is a PhD student in the group of Wolfgang Zierer at the division of biochemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. She is expecially interested in the in silico study of various crop plants.

  • Yannick Schnauhuber

    PhD candidate

    Yannick Schnauhuber is a PhD student in the group of Wolfgang Zierer at the division of biochemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He sees the secure supply of food as one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the coming years. The CASS project is particularly exciting for him because it addresses food insecurity in one of its hotspots.

Uwe Sonnewald

Prof. Dr.

Uwe Sonnewald is head of the division of biochemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU). He leads a research group trying to improve plant yield under optimal and stressful environmental conditions. Molecular genetics, genomics and biochemical methods are used to identify and characterize yield components, primarily for potato and cassava plants. Distribution of photoassimilates, mainly fixed during photosynthesis in source leaves, to harvestable plant organs, such as seeds, tubers or roots, is the most important determinant of crop yield. Allocation of photoassimilates is influenced by environmental and endogenous factors. In several crop plants temperature and day length significantly determine the switch between vegetative and generative growth. In this context the group identified a smallRNA (SES) negatively regulating tuberization of potato plants in response to temperature. Overcoming the negative regulation of SES resulted in potato plants tuberizing under elevated temperatures achieving higher yields as compared to control plants. Beside this, many factors influencing source-to-sink relations have been deciphered and this knowledge has been used to design transgenic plants with improved biomass production and yield.

Source-to-sink interaction | Potato | Cassava

Team

Wolfgang Zierer

Dr.

Wolfgang Zierer is a group leader at the division of biochemistry under Prof. Uwe Sonnewald at the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. His group investigates source/sink relations by developing and analyzing cassava plants with altered photosynthesis-, transport- and/or sink metabolism. In addition, developmental processes are studied in this important tropical crop plant.
Wolfgang Zierer is the scientific coordinator of the “Cassava Source-Sink” project aimed at optimizing assimilation, allocation and utilization of carbohydrates. He is particularly excited about the opportunity of improving cassava and the potential positive impact for nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Team

Christian Lamm

Dr.

Christian Lamm is a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Wolfgang Zierer at the Division of Biochemistry in Erlangen, Germany. The group’s major interest is focused on the application and evaluation of biotechnological concepts to enhance the source-sink relations of cassava. Notable research activities of Christian include cassava transformation and high-resolution comparative proteomics analysis. Furthermore, Christian is heading the newly established tissue culture lab in Erlangen.

Source-Sink interaction | Comparative Proteomics | Tissue Culture |Cassava

David Rüscher

David Rüscher is a PhD student in the group of Wolfgang Zierer at the division of biochemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He is interested in biotechnological advances in crop sciences to secure future nutrition. For him, the CASS project is of special interest, since Cassava is a plant which is usually overlooked in global agriculture and improvement will directly aid people who need it most. Within the project, David will focus primarily on analysis of the transgenic lines in terms of photosynthetic properties and the resulting shift in Source-to-Sink relationship.

Sindy Gutschker

Sindy Gutschker is a PhD student in the group of Wolfgang Zierer at the division of biochemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. She is expecially interested in the in silico study of various crop plants. Sindy analyses bisulfite and/or next generation sequencing datasets to study plant gene expression profiles. The CASS project is of special interest to her because there is much to learn about cassava physiology and a better understanding of the crop will ultimately benefit a lot of people.

Yannick Schnauhuber

PhD candidate

Yannick Schnauhuber is a PhD student in the group of Wolfgang Zierer at the division of biochemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He sees the secure supply of food as one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the coming years. The CASS project is particularly exciting for him because it addresses food insecurity in one of its hotspots. Within the project, Yannick will focus primarily on the system biological characterzation of transgenic lines and the resulting shift in source to sink relationship.

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