Klaus Schläppi on plant-microbiome interactions and smart farming

On 1 October 2024, the NCCR Microbiomes Seminar Series is delighted to host Klaus Schläppi, Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Basel.

Klaus Schläppi did a PhD in Plant Biology at the University of Fribourg, and then pursued his postdoctoral research in Germany at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research. In 2013, he became Junior Group Leader in the Division Agroecology and Environment at Agroscope, and then in 2018 Group Leader in the Institute of Plant Science of the University of Bern. Since 2020 he is Professor at Uni Basel, where he leads the group Plant Microbe Interactions.

Klaus Schläppi’s research explores the delicate interplay between plants and their microbiota. In particular, the group studies how plants communicate with and influence the root microbiome, as well as the functional contribution of the root microbiome to plant gowth and disease protection. Working with Arabidopsis thaliana and Zea mays as plant models, Klaus Schläppi combines field and laboratory experiments with methods in microbiomics, molecular biology, microbiology, plant genetics and bioinformatics. The ultimate goal of his research is to use beneficial plant microbiome interactions in the service of smart and sustainable agriculture.

In 2022, Klaus Schläppi was awarded a prestigious ERC Consolidator grant to study Microbial Feedbacks on Plants, with the goal to identify why certain plants grow better on a soil microbiome that was formed by maize plants, with applications in improving the design of crop rotation.

Klaus Schläppi will give a talk entitled ‘From exudate-microbiome interactions on Maize roots to smart farming’ . The seminar will take place on 1 October 2024, from 12h00 to 13h00 CEST. You can access this public seminar through this Zoom link.