"Plant biodiversity is valuable, and not only in a figurative sense, but in a very tangible way," says Prof. Nick. In several projects, he and his team at the KIT Botanical Institute use species diversity to develop concrete applications. The focus is on useful plants such as rice and wine and their wild relatives, but also on plants that are used medicinally. Within the framework of cooperations with industrial partners, he provides his knowledge and the tools. These include "genetic barcoding," authentication using gene markers. In combination with classical authentication, such as microscopic analysis, the origin and authenticity of various plants can be verified.

The team uses the extensive collection of well-characterized and verified reference plants from the Botanical Garden for this purpose. In addition to research and development collaborations, the scientists are also investigating services on a commercial basis, such as for companies that trade in or process plant products.

OSMOTIC STRESS

Drought, soil salinization and alkalinization are on the rise, creating immense societal problems. To provide sufficient food for the world's growing population, new healthy and resistant crops are needed for cultivation in climatically challenging areas. Prof. Nick's team has demonstrated that plants can respond intelligently to stress factors. Plants are apparently capable of analyzing even complex environmental situations and responding flexibly and appropriately. How can this knowledge be used in agriculture in the future?

Further Link

• Osmotic stress

GRAPES PROJECT

Grapevines are highly susceptible to pathogens, which entails great effort in plant protection. For example, about 70 percent of fungicide production is due to grapevine cultivation. In the Botanical Garden of KIT, the team has cultivated the almost extinct European wild grapevine. It is more resistant to diseases such as downy mildew. New cultivars can thus reduce the use of pesticides.

Further Link

• Our wild grape project (Botanical Institute)

TRENDY PLANTS

Globalization is constantly flooding new products onto the European market, many of them plant-based. Novel foods and functional foods place ever-increasing demands on consumer protection and quality control. It is often very difficult to recognize and classify these mostly exotic products. However, the consumer needs assurance that what is inside is what is on the label. The institute has developed an integrated approach to increase consumer protection for trendy plants and the commercial products made from them.

Further Link

• Molecular authentication (Botanical Institute)

CHINESE MEDICINE

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is becoming more common worldwide and is based on about 1500 plants, some of which are rare. Studies show that about a quarter of the preparations are stretched or even replaced by other plants. Best case: such surrogate products are ineffective. Worst case: if they are confused with toxic plants, the consequences can be fatal. Together with the company Phytocomm, Prof. Nick is looking for ways to create higher consumer safety. Thus, it is already possible to clarify a safe preparation within a few hours.

Weiterführender Link

• The "real" goji berry (Botanical Institute)

AMARANTH

In the course of gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan diets, amaranth is becoming more and more popular. At present, however, amaranth is only cultivated on a very small scale in Germany; the trade usually obtains larger batches from Latin America. Quality and identity of the material are variable and often undefined. At KIT, more than 80 amaranth genotypes have been investigated and characterized with regard to their cultivation properties. New varieties are just about to be bred from the most suitable genotypes.

Further Link

• Amaranth as Functional Food (Botanical Institute)

Many other projects of Prof. Nick and his team

• Research areas of the Nick Laboratory (Botanical Institute)