Physiology related to cytokinins and secondary plant compounds in the moss Physcomitrella

Our group studies different subjects in the fields of plant development and secondary metabolism using the moss Physcomitrella patens as a model organism. Our work on plant development focuses on the impact of cytokinins as growth regulators (cytokinin biosynthesis, cytokinin metabolism, cytokinin perception) at an early evolutionary state of plant evolution. In our functional studies we use, besides biochemical approaches, either knock out plants generated on the basis of homologous recombination or RNAi plants. In secondary metabolism we study the role of polyphenols and polyphenoloxidases as well as the function of kaurene type diterpenes (secondary metabolism).