Professor Dr Uta Paszkowski

Research Priorities: Molecular genetics of plants, arbuscular mycorrhiza symbiosis, host-microbe interaction, symbiotic signal transmission
Uta Paszkowski is a German molecular scientist. Her research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms that underly arbuscular mycorrhiza symbiosis (AM) and its use for the phosphate supply of crops. She established rice and maize as monocotyledonous models for the study of the molecular genetics of AM-symbiosis and contributed significantly to this area. 
In her research Uta Paszkowski focuses on AM – the most common connection between terrestrial plant roots and the glomeromycotan of fungi. Her team studies the molecular mechanisms that are the basis for the bonding and functioning of AM-symbioses in rice and maize. With the help of molecular genetics and imaging techniques she elucidated the molecular mechanisms on which this seemingly harmonious connection is based. She wants to find out how the two organisms, each feeding and recognising the other, communicate to establish this physical relationship. From this Uta Paszkowski deduced mechanisms of communication that enable this widespread and close partnership between cereal crops and fungi. 
Arbuscular mycorrhiza receives increased scientific attention due to its nutritional benefits it gives to plants, its common occurrence in present-day plant species, and as a result of its evolutionary age as well as its relationship to other plant interactions. The aim of Uta Paszkowski’s research is to optimize the adaptation of AM-symbiosis into modern sustainable agricultural practices.