Research

Günther Schilling sinificantly contributed to the creation of a modern biochemical-physiological basis of plant nutrition science resulting in a new orientation of this field of science. After 1960 he investigated uptake, transport and metabolism of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in crop plants by means of tracer techniques.

Especially the transformation of these substances into yield forming materials was analysed. It was found that nitrogen primarily controls the stalk growth of cereal crops via the biosynthesis of the phytohormones GA1 and GA3. Therefore, it is possible to decouple the substance forming effect of such nutrient elements from their morphogenetic efficacy by biochemical control of the hormone formation. In this way the assimilate distribution among the plant parts can be altered in favour of yield forming organs.

On this basis Schilling and his co-workers developed several plant growth regulators for different plants. Their application in combination with a stadium specific fertilization facilitates the production of crops with a specific organ ratio and a decided chemical composition.