Corina Vlot-Schuster works on sustainable crop protection

Prof. Dr. Corina Vlot-Schuster studied biology at the University of Utrecht (Netherlands), specialising in biochemistry and molecular biology. Vlot-Schuster completed her doctorate on the propagation of alfalfa mosaic virus RNA in plants.

Her research took Prof. Dr. Corina Vlot-Schuster to the USA, then to the Max Planck Institute in Cologne, before she joined Helmholtz Zentrum München in 2009. In recent years, she has been investigating the interactions supported by volatile messengers, which plants can use to 'warn' each other of dangers, such as the presence of a pathogen in the field.

"At Crop Genetics, I plan to continue my current research on crops, and wish to place special emphasis on bread wheat, one of the most important staple foods worldwide," says Vlot-Schuster. The aim of the research is to understand the plant's own defence mechanisms against diseases, and to use them for sustainable plant protection. The secondary substances that are important for plant immunity often promote human health as well (e.g. so-called antioxidants). "I am very much looking forward to the interdisciplinarity in Faculty VII, especially to exploring this aspect with my colleagues in Kulmbach."