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Lisa Bischoff

Research

The main focus of my research is on the interaction of plants with their biotic environment. Particularly, I am interested in the symbiosis between legumes and rhizobia.

During my undergraduate studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Applied Sciences Neubrandenburg I got insights in conventional and ecological agriculture, challenges farmers are facing, and solutions to improve sustainability. In the years after my Bachelor studies I deepened my expertise by my own and started to focus on beneficial relationships between plants and microorganisms. For the final year project of my Master degree in Crop Science, I therefore initiated a cooperation between the Plant Nutrition Lab and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), in which I investigated the effects of different Pseudomonas bacteria strains on nutrient mobilization and plant growth. Some strains were able to mobilize P, K, and Fe from poor available sources and triggered a change of plant root architecture, and my thus have beneficial effects on crop performance.

In my PhD project, I devote myself to the symbiosis of legumes and rhizobia. Due to their symbiosis with these nitrogen-fixing bacteria, legumes do not rely on soil nitrogen and also enrich the soil with nitrogen, thus providing it to subsequent crops. This is essential in ecological farming where mineral nitrogen fertilizers are forbidden. However, under various conditions (e.g. drought stress) nitrogen fixation is down-regulated by the plant. The mechanism of this regulation is poorly understood. As a possible actor in this process is calcium, the aim of my PhD project is to investigate the role of calcium in the regulation of nitrogen fixation.

CV

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