Transport Processes in Crop Plants (AvH Professor Wolf B. Frommer)
We investigate molecular processes and proteins involved in transport of metabolites through cellular membranes. By this we aim to improve plant disease control and to increase crop yield of maize and rice.
In order to absorb nutrients and carry them through the membranes in their cells, plants use transport proteins. Understanding them is one of the keys to increasing yields and finding new fertilisers. One of the leading experts in this area is the plant biologist, Wolf B. Frommer. He investigates different transport mechanisms, such as the so-called SWEET proteins, which channel glucose through the membranes. This mechanism operates very similarly in animal and human cells, too. Frommer’s work is thus also relevant to medical applications such as understanding metabolic processes in cancer cells. Together with non-university partners in Jülich and Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research Cologne, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf would like to apply Frommer’s expertise to continue developing the CEPLAS Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences into a cutting-edge research location for molecular botany. (AvH Foundation)
