Research breakthrough: Konstanz scientists revolutionize terpene research!

Research breakthrough: Konstanz scientists revolutionize terpene research!

On September 4, 2025, the European Research Council (ERC) announced the new ERC Starting Grants. This year, chemist Lena Barra will receive a grant of 1.5 million euros from the University of Konstanz for her “TAILOMET” project. This project focuses on terpenes, natural carbon compounds known for their medically relevant properties.

As part of “TAILOMET”, Barra plans to use enzymes to add methyl groups to terpenes in order to specifically change their properties. The so-called “magic methyl effect” describes how methylation can surprisingly influence the properties of active ingredients. Barra will identify natural enzymes and pathways to develop novel methods for methylation.

Research projects with ecological relevance

In addition to Barra, Catalina Chaparro-Pedraza, an ecologist at Eawag in Zurich, was also awarded an ERC Starting Grant worth 1.5 million euros for her project “PHENOTIPPING”. This project aims to understand how adaptations of organisms to environmental change affect ecological resilience. Chaparro-Pedraza will combine empirical and theoretical approaches and conduct experiments with phytoplankton populations to further understand the impacts on ecosystem resilience.

Both researchers lead their projects at the Limnological Institute at the University of Konstanz, which specializes in researching aquatic ecosystems. The ERC Starting Grant supports the establishment of our own working groups in order to advance innovative research projects, such as uni-konstanz.de reported.

Phenotypic plasticity in modern research

An important aspect of ecological research is phenotypic plasticity, a topic that is also addressed in other research initiatives. Organisms respond to their environment in terms of genetic control and environmental interaction. This plasticity allows them to develop different shapes depending on environmental conditions. The nematode Pristionchus pacificus is an exemplary model for studying these adaptations, as it can develop two different mouth shapes under different conditions, such as mpg.de highlights.

Phenotypic plasticity is visible not only in nematodes, but also in plants, animals and bacteria. Their importance for evolution and the emergence of new forms of diversity has been well documented in research over the last 15 years. Future studies will focus on how abiotic factors and food resources influence the development and characteristics of organisms.

A new special research area

In the context of this research, the Grants Committee of the German Research Foundation (DFG) launched the Collaborative Research Center 1644 “Phenotypic Plasticity in Plants – Mechanisms, Limitations and Evolution”. This project is led by the University of Potsdam and will begin in April 2024 with a duration of three years and nine months. The aim is to understand the relationship between genotype and trait expression under different environmental conditions and to investigate their effects on plant adaptability igzev.de describes.

A total of 17 scientific sub-projects and a central coordination project are involved in the SFB, with partner institutions such as the Leibniz Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Production and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology. These initiatives illustrate the multitude of research that is currently contributing to better understanding and knowledge about environmental adaptations of organisms.