Wild Chemistry: How Ecology Shapes Chemodiversity in Solanum dulcamara populations in Poland
- Beschreibung
Background
Intraspecific chemo diversity is an important feature of plant populations and may contribute to resistance against herbivores and other antagonists. While such variation is often linked to genetic differences, plant specialized metabolite profiles are also shaped by phenotypic plasticity in response to local environmental conditions. Because field populations experience different ecological factors and stresses, comparing populations across sites can help reveal how ecological context contributes to chemical variation within a species. In this project, Solanum dulcamara, a species native to Eurasia and an important model system in our lab, will be used to explore these patterns in greater depth across natural populations in Poland.
Objectives
1. To characterize and compare the specialized metabolite profiles of different natural populations of S. dulcamara in Poland.
2. To assess whether differences in local ecological conditions and herbivore stress factors are associated with differences in plant chemical profiles.
3. To evaluate the role of phenotypic plasticity in generating intraspecific chemodiversity in S. dulcamara under natural field conditions.
Benefits
You could be involved in exploring the S. dulcamara populations in Poland, doing vegetation assessment (plant identification), herbivore assessment (insect identification), and learn different techniques like HPLC with phenolic extracts.The project will be supervised by Radhika Keshan
- Projektzeitraum
- Sommersemester 2026
- Bewerbungszeitraum
- 07. bis 20.04.2026
- Durchführung
- semesterbegleitend
- Studienfach
- Biologie
- Betreuende
- Prof.Dr. Anke Steppuhn
- Institut
- Institut für Biologie (190) (Molecular Botany (190a))
- Sprache
- englisch
- Teilnehmendenanzahl
- min. 1, max. 2
- Arbeitsaufwand
-
ca. 120 Stunden pro Teilnehmende:r
| 4
ECTS-Punkte
Arbeitsaufwand (Stunden und ggf. ECTS) sind ungefähre Angaben. Die tatsächlich vergebenen ECTS-Punkte ergeben sich aus der tatsächlich geleisteten Arbeit.
- Für dieses Projekt ist kein Motivationsschreiben des Studierenden erforderlich
- Projektart
- experimentell
- Lernziele
-
Die Teilnehmende lernen in diesem Projekt:
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
-Perform vegetation assessment by Braun Blanquet method
-Learn Insect identification of some orders
-Perform phenolic extraction from leaf sample for HPLC analysis
-Conduct data collection and analysis. - Anmerkungen für Studierende
EU driving license is a requirement
Project supervisor: Radhika Keshan (radhika.keshan@uni-hohenheim.de)