Press release: Maize under multiple stress
No. 200 - 12.12.2025
DFG funds new research unit in agricultural sciences at the University of Göttingen
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a new research unit (RU) in agricultural sciences at the University of Göttingen. Under the title “Concurrent multiple abiotic and biotic stress interactions in maize: impacts and mechanisms,” the participating scientists are investigating the impact of combined (abiotic and biotic) stresses on crop physiology and productivity. The RU consists of the University of Göttingen, University of Tübingen, University of Cologne, University of Hohenheim, Technical University of Munich, IPK Gatersleben and international partners in Africa, i.e. the JOOUST University in Siaya, Kenya. AGRA and CIMMYT in Nairobi and Addis Ababa and University of Milano, Italy. The new findings are intended to support the breeding of multi-stress-resistant maize varieties in the long term. The funding requested amounts to around 5.4 million euros for an initial period of four years.
Multiple stresses in crop, especially combinations of abiotic and biotic stressors, pose enormous challenges for agriculture in view of advancing climate change and with regard to food security. Plant-stress interactions are commonly subdivided into abiotic and biotic stresses and studied separately. However, under field conditions, these stress interactions are usually multiple and interactive in character. For most crops, the underlying mechanisms determining interactions and their effects on crop performance under are unknown for most stress combinations under field conditions. The research initiative aims to investigate the effects of multiple stress on the physiology and performance of maize, particularly with regard to grain yield, biomass quality, and resource use efficiency. The central experiments are being conducted in Germany and Kenya under field conditions and combine the stress factors of drought and nitrogen deficiency with the leaf disease S. turcica and insect pest corn borer.
“The overarching goal of our research group is to revolutionize the mechanistic understanding of multiple abiotic and biotic stress interactions in maize —with the crop stand as the target scale,” says Professor Reimund Rötter, head of the Department of Tropical Crop Production and Agrosystem Modeling and spokesperson for the research unit. The focus in the first phase of the research unit is on the development and application of a novel, process-based model for simulating plant growth and yield of different maize varieties. “The aim and task of this MultiStress Model is to integrate the experimental results across different scales, from the genome to the crop stand, and to extrapolate the interdisciplinary findings obtained in this way spatially and temporally,” says Rötter.
Contact:
Professor Reimund Rötter
University of Göttingen
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Department of Tropical Crop Production and Agrosystem Modeling
Grisebachstr. 6, 37077 Göttingen
Phone: +49 551 39-28565