From the visible to the invisible - a PlantMicrobe tour through the Botanical Garden Munich
For the second time, the TRR356 PlantMicrobe tour "Vom Sichtbaren zum Unsichtbaren – Wie Mikroben die Pflanzengesundheit stärken können" took place at the Botanical Garden Munich-Nymphenburg on September 12, 2023.
12.09.2023
As part of the TRR356 outreach project and the “Botany for all” series, Dr. Dagmar Hann (LMU) guided interested visitors through the open-air area of the Botanical Garden. The tour led mainly through the crop section and focused on interactions between plants and microbes.
Once there, visitors were first able to learn more about beneficial interactions in the form of symbiosis with fungi and bacteria. For example, they were able to dig up roots of various legumes like beans and red clover for a closer look at nodules while learning more about their nitrogen-fixing function.
Participants also learned about plant diseases and immunity when a few pathogen-infested plants such as mildew on pumpkin or ramularias on rhubarb were discovered. Not surprising for this time of year: when the immune system of plants weakens in autumn, pathogens are more likely to infect them.
The tour ended at this year's new milpa bed as an example of sustainable cultivation in the ecological-genetic section. Also known as the “Three Sisters”, beans, corn and pumpkin are grown in a mixed crop, being beneficial to each other. In keeping with the PlantMicrobe motto, the bean can deliver nitrogen to its two "sisters" through its nitrogen-fixing root nodules.
We thank all participants in August and September for their interest in our research.
More impressions of this tour on Instagram @botanischergarten.muenchen - Reel
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Would you like to take part in the next PlantMicrobe tour? You can find all information on our upcoming tours on the TRR356 Outreach Events page.
We also welcome all TRR356 colleagues to offer tours on their PlantMicrobe research topics in the Munich Botanical Garden. If anyone is interested, please contact the outreach team (Ö01).