Lisa Koch wins Talk Award at Conference “Molecular Biology of Plants“ in Hennef
The 37th Conference „Molecular Biology of Plants“ took place in Hennef from the 4th until the 7th of march. Two of our PhD students – Yannick Schnauhuber and Lisa Koch – attended the Conference to present their current research.
Lisa Koch gave a talk with the title: “Yield reduction in potato caused by heat and nitrogen fertilization is mitigated by overexpression of the tuberigen SP6A”. Potato yields are strongly negatively affected by increased ambient temperature. In the context of climate change it is important to ensure yields of this staple crop in the future.
Our work has demonstrated that heat and high nitrogen fertilization both inhibit tuber formation and reduce yield significantly. A combination of those stressors has an even worse impact on tuberization and ultimately strongly diminishes yield. Through overexpression of the gene SP6A, which is causally involved in the tuberization process, we could mitigate those heat and nitrogen mediated yield losses. This makes those SP6A ovexpressing plants viable candidates for ensuring stable yields in the future.
This talk was awarded the Reinhold-von-Sengbusch prize for presentations.
In a 2.5-hour poster session, Yannick Schnauhuber was able to initiate some interesting discussions with his poster titled “Deregulated sucrose synthesis in source leaves of Manihot esculenta leads to higher sugar but lower starch contents in storage roots”.