SCIENTIFIC REPORT 2003-2004 Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry Weinberg 3 06120 Halle Germany Phone: +49 (0) 3 45 - 55 82 11 10 Fax: +49 (0) 3 45 - 55 82 11 09 Email: [email protected] www.ipb-halle.de 2 Table of Contents Message from the Managing Director 4 Departmental Organization 5 Research Mission Statement 6 Department of Natural Product Biotechnology 8 Head: Toni M. Kutchan, Professor Research Groups: Alkaloid Biosynthesis 10 Toni M. Kutchan Opium Poppy Biotechnology 12 Susanne Frick Mode of Action of Jasmonates 14 Claus Wasternack & Otto Miersch Papaver-Gene Expression Analysis 16 Jörg Ziegler Publications and Other Scientific Activities 2003 18 Publications and Other Scientific Activities 2004 19 Department of Bioorganic Chemistry 20 Head: Ludger Wessjohann, Professor Research Groups: Plant and Fungal Metabolites/Microanalytics 22 Norbert Arnold & Jürgen Schmidt Structural Analysis & Computational Chemistry 24 Wolfgang Brandt & Andrea Porzel Research Group: Isoprenoids 26 Ludger Wessjohann Research Group: Synthesis and Method Development 28 Ludger Wessjohann & Bernhard Westermann Publications and Other Scientific Activities 2003 32 Publications and Other Scientific Activities 2004 34 Department of Stress and Developmental Biology 36 Head: Dierk Scheel, Professor Research Groups: Molecular Communication in Plant-Pathogen Interactions 38 Wolfgang Knogge Cellular Signaling 40 Dierk Scheel & Justin Lee Induced Pathogen Defense 42 Dierk Scheel & Sabine Rosahl Metal Homeostasis 44 Stephan Clemens Metabolite Profiling in Arabidopsis and Crop Plants 46 Stephan Clemens, Jürgen Schmidt, Ludger Wessjohann, Dierk Scheel Publications and Other Scientific Activities 2003 48 Publications and Other Scientific Activities 2004 49 3 Department of Secondary Metabolism 50 Head: Dieter Strack, Professor Research Groups: Molecular Physiology of Mycorrhiza 52 Michael H. Walter Cell Biology of Mycorrhiza 54 Bettina Hause Biochemistry of Mycorrhiza 56 Willibald Schliemann Glycosyl- and Methyltransferases 58 Thomas Vogt Hydroxycinnamic Acids 60 Dieter Strack Publications and Other Scientific Activities 2003 62 Publications and Other Scientific Activities 2004 63 Administration and Technical Services 64 Head: Lothar Franzen Administration Employees 66 Employee Statistics 67 Involvement of the IPB in National and International Scientific Networks 68 Resources and Investments 69 Funds from External Sources 70 Seminars, Workshops and Colloquia 2003 74 Seminars, Workshops and Colloquia 2004 76 Guest Researchers and Fellows 78 Press and Public Relations 80 Head: Sylvia Pieplow Publications and Press Releases 2003 84 Publications and Press Releases 2004 85 Map and Impressum 87 4 Message from the Managing Director Board of Directors Dierk Scheel, Professor Managing Director until November 2004 Head of the Department of Stress and Developmental Biology Toni M. Kutchan, Professor Managing Director since November 2004 Head of the Department of Natural Product he Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) is a research center that is Biotechnology rich in contemporary German history. Founded as the Institute for Bio che - Lothar Franzen T Head of Administration and Technical mistry of Plants in 1958 by Kurt Mothes, this former research institute of the East Services German Academy of Sciences was unique in emphasizing a multidisciplinary ap - Dieter Strack, Professor proach to studying plant natural products and hormone-regulated processes. Head of the Department of Secondary Scientists from around the globe were regularly invited to visit and the institute Metabolism enjoyed international recognition. The IPB, as we know the institute today, was Ludger Wessjohann, Professor Head of the Department of Bioorganic founded in 1992 and has developed into a thriving center of modern plant re - Chemistry search. The multidisciplinary style of research introduced by Kurt Mothes conti- nues and has been expanded upon. Within four research departments, more than Board of Trustees 170 scientific staff, doctoral and diploma students and guests from the world-over Ministerialrat Thomas Reitmann contribute to the exciting bustle of state-of-the-art research. Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of the State of Saxony Anhalt The fundamental research programs at the IPB center on, in a broad sense, natu- Ministerialrat ral product research and molecular interactions. From natural product isolation Jürgen Roemer - Mähler, Dr. and structure determination through to investigations of biosynthesis and regu- Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Federal Ministry of Education and Research lation, new biologically active molecules are sought and production sources opti- mized through chemical synthesis and genetic engineering. Cellular func tion as Wilhelm Boland, Professor Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, regulated by molecular interactions are investigated at the level of receptor- Jena, ligand, enzyme-substrate and protein-protein interactions using computer mode- Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board ling and a variety of biochemical and genetic techniques. The years 2003-2004 Alfons Gierl, Professor Technical University of Munich, were very productive for us and intriguing new research developments within the Vice Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board departments at the IPB in these areas are highlighted with in this scientific report. Reinhard Neubert, Professor Vice Rector for Research and Postgraduate Scientists at the institute are participating in an increasing number of local, natio- Students of the University of Halle nal and international research networks. A new Priority Program of the German Jörg Stetter, Professor Bayer AG, Leverkusen Research Foundation (DFG, SPP 1152, Evolution of Metabolic Diversity) was ini - tia ted and is coordinated by scientists at the IPB. In 2004, members of the insti - Scientific Advisory Board tute contributed to the successful application to the German Research Foun - Wilhelm Boland, Professor dation for a new Collaborative Research Center (SFB 648, Molecular mechanisms Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board, of in for mation processing in plants) at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wit - Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena ten berg. Alfons Gierl, Professor Vice Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board, We have further improved upon our research facilities during the past two years; Technical University of Munich, the institute dedicated a new 500 square meter shared-use building in Spring Department of Genetics 2004. The construction provides space for a mass spectrometry center, nucleo - Raoul J. Bino, Professor University of Wageningen, The Netherlands tide sequence analysis, fermentation and synthetic organic chemistry laborato- Laboratory of Plant Physiology ries. Our greenhouses are also being expanded; we began in November 2004 Thomas Boller, Professor with the construction of an additional 346 square meters of floor space that will University of Basel, Institute of Botany meet the growing demand of the IPB's research programs with transgenic plants. Horst Kunz, Professor These new plant growth facilities will be ready for occupancy in Spring 2005. University of Mainz, Institute of Organic Chemistry We hope that in this report, we are able to share our excitement for plant bio- Birger Lindberg MØ ller, Professoer chemistry and its manifold applications with you. We are proud of how our insti- University of Copenhagen, tute has developed over the years and if you are planning on being in the Halle Department of Plant Biology (Saale) area, please do stop by to learn more about us. Günter Strittmatter, Dr. KWS SAAT AG, Einbeck Lutz F. Tietze, Professor University of Göttingen, Toni M. Kutchan Institute of Organic Chemistry Lothar Willmitzer, Professor Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm Ulrich Wobus, Professor Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersleben 5 Departmental Organization Board of Trustees Ministerialrat T. Reitmann Chairman Ministerialrat J. Roemer-Mähler, Dr. Vice Chairman Scientific Advisory Board W. Boland, Professor Chairman A. Gierl, Professor Board of Directors Vice Chairman Public Relations D. Scheel, Professor Managing Director until 31.10.2004 S. Pieplow T. M. Kutchan, Professor Personal Assistent to the Managing Director Managing Director since 01.11.2004 L. Franzen Administratitive Director D. Strack, Professor L. Wessjohann, Professor Department of Department of Department of Department of Administration and Technical Natural Product Bioorganic Chemistry Stress and Developmental Secondary Metabolism Services Biotechnology Head: L. Wessjohann, Biology Head: D. Strack, Professor Head: L. Franzen Head: T. M. Kutchan, Professor Head: D. Scheel, Professor Plant and Fungal Meta - Molecular Commu ni- Molecular Accounting Alkaloid Biosynthesis bolites /Microanalytics cation in Plant-Pathogen Physiology of Mycorrhiza Human Resources Toni M. Kutchan Norbert Arnold & Interactions Michael H. Walter General Administration Jürgen Schmidt Wolfgang Knogge Structural Analysis & Opium Poppy Cell Biology Library Services Computational Chemistry Cellular Signaling Biotechnology of Mycorrhiza Stockroom Wolfgang Brandt & Dierk Scheel & Justin Lee Susanne Frick Bettina Hause Graphic Arts Andrea Porzel Mode of Induced Biochemistry Facilities Management Action of Jasmonates Isoprenoids Pathogen Defense of Mycorrhiza Computer Support Claus Wasternack & Ludger Wessjohann Dierk Scheel & Sabine Willibald