• Evolution, structure and function of plant YUCCA enzymes, and their specific role in mediating plant environmental stress resistance
• Pathway discovery of genes involved in general and specialized metabolism, with a focus on the role of cytochromes P450 and flavin containing monooxygenases
• Enzyme optimization by ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) for biotechnology
• Integrated “omics” approach to understand the role and regulation of specialized metabolites in trees and shrubs (e.g. Eucalyptus, Empetrum) in response to environmental stress
• Evolution of general and specialized metabolite pathways in ferns

For students wishing to work within these topics,. M.Sc. and B.Sc. projects are currently available. Please contact en@plen.ku.dk

• Novo Nordisk Emerging Investigator “liftOFF! Optimizing Plant FMOs for Future Production” 2019-2024

• DFF Project I “YUCCApro: Prevalence and origin of YUCCA multifunctionality” 2022-2024

• DFF Sapere Aude Starting Grant “SuperYUCCA: YUCCA multifunctionality for improved crop resistance”

Using a multi-disciplinary approach, our research has established an intricate interplay between plant general and specialized metabolism. We have demonstrated that plants exhibit a metabolic shift in chemistry in response to developmental and environmental change; in the glasshouse and in the field. The redirection of resources between general and specialized metabolism can improve plant growth and performance under adverse conditions. This metabolic shift, however, has significant consequences for plant toxicity and nutritional content, and downstream consequences on different trophic levels.

We have optimized analytical methods to separate and analyze complex plant mixtures. We are currently identifying key biosynthetic pathway members involved in the biosynthesis of different specialized metabolite classes, combining transcriptomic and proteomic analyses.