P-Campus Lecture Series WS 2020/21

Abstract
Next to the structural characterization, electron microscopy allows the identification and mapping of the elemental composition in sample materials with high precision. Energy dispersive X-ray  spectroscopy (EDX) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) are widely applied in electron microscopy to deduce information on the sample composition, e.g. on the presence and distribution of phosphorus, by interactions with the incident beam electrons. The seminar will introduce the background and potential of these analytical methods in scanning- and transmission electron microscopy (SEM / TEM) on biological samples as well as in material science applications. Requirements for sample preparation will be discussed along with examples of such analyses from recent research projects and future perspectives for analytical electron microscopy using high resolution TEM.

Date/Time
15.10.2020 / 3:00 pm - ca. 4:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
PD Dr. sc. nat. Marcus Frank (Rostock University Medical Center, Medical Biology and Electron Microscopy Centre)

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation Fee
free of charge

Abstract
Phosphate (P) is one of the three main nutrients in plant cultivation and enters the soil mainly in the form of mineral fertilizers from rock phosphates or also organic fertilizer e.g. as liquid manure or fermentation residues. After fertilization, the P solubility and thus the proportion of P available to plants decreases relatively quickly, which over time can lead to regional P accumulation in soils. For a sustainable P management, it is therefore necessary to better understand the dynamics of P transformation processes in the soil-plant system. The complexity of P-transformation processes in soils (sorption/desorption, fixation, diffusion) complicates both the determination of all influencing factors in their entirety and the selective analytical separation of the individual processes. Pedogenic Al and Fe (hydr)oxide have an important influence on the adsorption and desorption processes of P in soil. In this lecture, current research findings on the interactions between phosphate and pedogenic oxides will be presented.

Date/Time
29.10.2020 / 3:00 pm - ca. 4:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
apl. Prof. Dr. Dirk Freese (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg)

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation fee
free of charge

Abstract
Starting from a model-like picture of the P-compounds occurring in the soil as well as in other environmental media, e.g. sediments, and the traditional wet chemical methods for the determination & estimation of pool sizes, the challenges for further analytical methods are formulated. For the methods "31P NMR" and "P XANES", the physical basics and instrumental realizations of these methods from the user's point of view are briefly described. Also very practically from a user's point of view, evaluation procedures and possibilities of statements are shown by means of current research examples. Finally, problems and limitations of these methods are also shown. The whole lecture is aimed at facilitating the introduction to these methods without prior in-depth physical-chemical basic knowledge of the method principles.

Date/Time
26.11.2020 / 3:00 pm - ca. 4:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
Prof. Dr. agr. habil. Peter Leinweber (University of Rostock)

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation fee
free of charge

Abstract
The P-supply of most plant species, including most agricultural crops, is at least proportionally, often dominantly symbiontic through the socialization with fungi with the development of mycorrhization. At the same time, mycorrhizal fungal hyphae link the roots with soil bacteria effective in P-mobilization beyond the root space. P-fertilization reduces both the development of mycorrhization and its effectiveness for the host plant, since after fertilization the self-sufficiency of the plant increases at the expense of the symbiotic P supply. Conversely, the currently targeted reduction of P-fertilization leads to a future increasing importance of the symbiotic P-supply of agricultural crops. The microbial biomass of the soil, which is mainly fungal, represents an important unstable P pool in the P cycle. It counteracts P leaching and stores P in binding forms that are easily available to plants. The lecture provides information about current results of mycorrhiza research and about the potentials and limits of the use of mycorrhization in agricultural crop production.

Date/Time
10.12.2020 / 3:00 pm - ca. 4:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
Associate Prof. Dr. agr. habil. Christel Baum (University of Rostock)

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation fee
free of charge

Abstract
Policy interventions are required to establish more sound phosphorus use including higher efficiency and an increased focus on circular economy. However, classical regulatory measures targeting individual actions – the command-and-control approach – will alone not suffice in addressing resource and environmental problems, because phosphorus problems are more appropriately viewed as quantity problems – rather than an issue of single actions, plants or areas. Economic instruments are, in contrast, suitable to prevent enforcement deficits, rebound and shifting effects, and promote recycling while decreasing phosphorus consumption. These quantity governance instruments would also help to address several other environmental problems related to land use such as disrupted nutrient cycles, biodiversity loss, climate change, soil, air, and water pollution all at once. This is because they can address major drivers for various challenges such as livestock products, fossil fuels – and as additional tool maybe also phosphorus directly.

Date/Time
14.01.2021 / 3:00 pm - ca. 4:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
Prof. Dr. Dr. Felix Ekardt (Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy and University of Rostock)

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation fee
free of charge

watch recording of the lecture

(password: governance)

Abstract
Low-temperature plasmas have been successfully used in a variety of industrial processes for a long time. The physical properties, with regard to the moderate thermal energy input and the presence of chemically highly reactive species of or in discharges, enable different approaches also in the agricultural environment. Research activities about the effect of plasmas on microorganisms, on biomass as well as on differently contaminated substrates such as waste water or food are shown.

Date/Time
28.01.2021 / 3:00 pm - ca. 4:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
Dr. Volker Brüser (Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology)

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation fee
free of charge

Abstract
Bacteria play a central role in the conversion and storage of P in soil. They are involved in the mineralization of organic P, the solubilization of inorganic P and its storage in the microbial biomass. Based on investigations with cultivable bacteria, it is known that various processes can be induced specifically in P deficiency. However, only about 1 % of the microorganisms are involved, so that cultivation-independent methods are necessary to better understand the totality of the processes and the environmental factors that determine the abundance and identity of the key organisms. For this purpose, we have established a sequence-based, metagenomic approach that covers the entire soil microbiome. The sequences obtained can be assigned to the individual processes and microorganisms using bioinformatics methods. Based on this methodological approach, we have learned that 1) the P content in soil determines whether P is recycled from biomass or mobilized from existing soil resources, 2) that P and N cycle are closely linked and often carried out by the same microorganisms, and 3) that microorganisms present in low abundance in soil nevertheless play a crucial role in P transformation in soil. In the course of the lecture the methodological background of metagenome analysis for the description of the bacterial P cycle as well as findings based on it will be explained. 

Date/Time
11.02.2021 / 2:00 pm - ca. 3:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
Dr. rer. nat. Stefanie Schulz (Helmholtz Zentrum München)

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation fee
free of charge

Abstract
The presentation starts with an introduction on the key aspects of sustainable P management. Based on that, the relevant legal acts for P management are analysed, including fertilizer law, organic farming legislation and the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU. It is shown that existing legislation includes some important starting points but fails to achieve sustainable P management due to structural governance problems like enforcement deficits as well as rebound and shifting effects. To tackle these typical obstacles of command-and-control law, economic instruments such as taxes and cap-and-trade schemes are proposed.
Subsequently, economic instruments are subjected to an impact analysis for a broad range of possible instruments regulating various P-related parameters: (1) P fertilizers, P additives, P surpluses and P losses or (2) the input and output factors of animal husbandry or (3) more comprehensive parameters such as greenhouse gases, fossil fuels, and land use. The most promising instruments are picked out. Towards the end of the presentation, a combination of instruments is recommended to achieve a sustainable P management with its manifold aspects.

Date/Time
25.02.2021 / 3:00 pm - ca. 4:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
Dr. agr. Beatrice Garske, M.Sc., LL.M. oec. (Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy and University of Rostock)

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation fee
free of charge

Abstract
To increase phosphorus (P) efficiency in monogastric animals such as pigs and poultry, the genetic and physiological basis of P metabolism needs to be better understood at the molecular, cellular, organismal, and microbiological levels. In intracellular and intercellular body fluids, P is mostly present in the form of phosphate anions (PO₄^3-, HPO₄^2-, H₂PO₄^-), which perform the various biological functions of phosphorus in the organism. P is essential for all biological processes, as it performs key functions in metabolism and cellular signaling pathways. For example, P compounds are a component of DNA and RNA molecules and thus part of the carrier substance for the genetic information of all living organisms. P supply is of particular importance in the context of skeletal development. In addition, adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) play a decisive role in the energy metabolism of cells. By growth and physiological turn-over the organism excretes P, which has to be replaced continuously by a nutrition covering the demand. For these reasons, P must be supplied in sufficient quantities with the diet. The maintenance of this P equilibrium state by endogenous regulatory processes is termed P homeostasis and serves to ensure growth and metabolic health. Associated metabolic processes include parathyroid, gut, kidney, and bone integration. P efficiency requires high intestinal P absorption, adequate skeletal P storage, and low P excretion. The mechanisms involved are closely linked to calcium metabolism. Animal-specific differences in P balance and improvement in P efficiency depend on several factors such as (epi)genetics, P digestibility, hormone status, and transcription rates. Increased P efficiency thus implies endocrine and transcriptional regulatory circuits, whose biological relevance is the subject of further research.

Date/Time
11.03.2021 / 3:00 pm - ca. 4:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
Dr. troph. Michael Oster (Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN))

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation fee
free of charge

Abstract
P efficiency mechanisms, intra-specific variability of potato and importance of wild relatives

The Gross Luesewitz Potato Collections (GLKS) collect, preserve and study plant genetic resources of cultivated and wild potatoes. With more than 6000 accessions, the GLKS is the second largest potato collection within the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR). The potato genetic resources differ in regard to several characteristics such as tuber shape and color, disease resistance or ingredients. Consequently, a high variability in terms of nutrient use efficiency can be expected as well. In particular old varieties or landraces from the Andes can provide a considerable (diversity) potential. This seminar introduces the importance of an adequate P supply of potato for tuber yield and quality, deals with P efficiency mechanisms and their variability in potato and gives an outlook on the role of potato wild relatives for improving P efficiency.

Date/Time
25.03.2021 / 3:00 pm - ca. 4:30 pm (incl. questions)

Lecturer
Dr. Silvia Bachmann-Pfabe (Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK))

Language
German / slides of the presentation will be in English

Participation fee
free of charge