Life on leaves: Commonality in diversity

The phyllosphere, which is dominated by leaves, represents one of the largest terrestrial habitats for microorganisms. Most of the phyllosphere bacteria are not well investigated; however, there is a growing interest to study commensals to elucidate their role in carbon cycling as well as their potential role as “probiotics”. The seminar will address which organisms colonize plants and which crucial fitness factors they possess. Insights from (meta)proteogenomics approaches will be presented that were followed-up by targeted hypothesis-driven research. Recent findings on the importance of commensals to protect plants against invading pathogens will be discussed.
Julia Vorholt is full professor of microbiology at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. She carried out her PhD work at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany. After a postdoctoral stay at the university of Washington, Seattle, USA, she returned to the MPI in Marburg as a group leader and subsequently headed a group at the CNRS in Toulouse, France. Since 2006 Julia Vorholt is professor at the institute of microbiology of ETH Zurich. She received the Otto-Hahn medal of the Max-Planck Society and is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Michael Hecker