A pioneering method enables simultaneous RNA and metabolite analysis in the same cell, revealing the molecular choreography underlying the biosynthesis of medically relevant natural products.

Iridoid-producing plants use a cyclase to synthesize the characteristic double-ring structure of this important class of defense compounds and medically relevant substances.

Today's conifers contain a mixture of ancient and recent defense substances in their resin, which may be key to combating bark beetles!

Despite having only a tiny genome, the symbionts of reed beetles can adapt their gene activity flexibly to the developmental stages and ambient temperatures of their hosts.

These conifers produce various monoterpenes to defend themselves against both bark beetles and microbial pathogens.

A catalytically inactive enzyme enables the formation of free indole for plant defense and communication

In summer 2025, the European Space Agency ESA plans to launch the MTG-S1 satellite from the third generation of the Meteosat series. The geostationary satellite will significantly improve the accuracy…

The elucidation of the biosynthetic pathway of ipecacuanha alkaloids shows how two distantly related plant species could develop the same substance independently.

Lithium niobate has long been a standard material for modulating optical signals, both in telecommunications and in laser amplifiers. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and…

With great regret we all had to accept the closure of the casino in the Abbe Center on Beutenberg last fall. More than 3,500 employees at the Beutenberg Campus have no longer been able to buy a daily…

Evolutionary adaptations have enabled the fruit fly Drosophila busckii to detect and thrive on toxic food sources

Extreme climate events endanger groundwater quality and stability, when rain water evades natural purification processes in the soil. This was demonstrated in long-term groundwater analyses using new…

How leaf beetles found the key to digesting plants better with the help of bacteria

Max Planck researchers identify the crucial protein for controlling the biosynthesis of steroidal glycoalkaloids and saponins in plants of the genus Solanum and for the first time demonstrate the…

Michael Müller recognized for developing the world's most powerful ultrafast fiber lasers

The Optica Foundation today announced Michael Müller is the inaugural recipient of the Valentin Gapontsev…

An international team of researchers led by Maximilian Weißflog with the participation of scientists from Jena, Canberra and with support from Darmstadt has made a significant advance in quantum…

A complex venom system allows antlions to overpower large prey

In a new study published in Communications Biology, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of…

An assessment of the climate effects of nitrogen emissions from fertilisers and fossil fuels

Nitrogen fertilisers and nitrogen oxides from fossil fuels are known for their environmental damages: they…

ERC Advanced Grant for natural product researcher Christian Hertweck

The “AnoxyGen” project will decode novel active substances of anaerobes and elucidate their role in nature. Christian Hertweck…

Max Planck researchers describe a new endosymbiont that is widespread in insects and whose ecological role needs to be further investigated.

Researchers in Jena show that chemical information is represented completely differently in the brains of these insects than in other insects or vertebrates

European Geosciences Union honors Eliane Gomes Alves, project leader in the Trumbore department, with the Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award.

The Colombia PeatSense Congress in Bogotá, enabled by an award to PhD student Antje Uhde, brought together German and Colombian peatland scientists.

Elevated ozone levels increase the occurrence of mostly sterile hybrids between different species of the genus Drosophila

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the…

An international team of researchers has investigated the question of whether the chemical defenses of plants changes when they have established themselves in new geographical regions. Greenhouse…