Participants

For more than 25 years we have relied on the high-quality propagation of plant seedlings, flanked by regular research and development projects. With innovative biotechnology processes, our Oldenburg company currently produces more than six million young plants per year.

On a specially developed culture medium, plants are created that are more robust, healthier and therefore more productive than cuttings from conventional propagation. Over 400 lilac varieties, 170 rhododendron varieties, 80 different azaleas and more than 50 bamboo and grasses are now part of the entire range.

PICCOPLANT is characterized by biological expertise, but also combines economic and ecological interests. The strategic orientation of the company adapts to the current needs of its customers. However, agriculture is also actively supported in the area of climate protection through the production of renewable raw materials, especially in the area of perennial biomass plants through to fast-growing forest trees.

The research laboratory, founded in Oldenburg in 1986, has developed into a global company that now employs around 70 people. With an experienced team of employees, piccoplant has not only made a name for itself in Germany as a plant and lilac expert, but is also in demand internationally.

Prof. Dr. English is a biochemist and was until recently director of the Center for Industrial Biotechnology (CIB)" at the University and Technical University of Lübeck. He is a professor of biotechnology (natural product chemistry). He has a large number of publications and third-party funded projects in this area with the chemical , pharmaceutical and food industries.

Prof. Dr. English will contribute to the proposed project with his expertise in the chemistry and industrial application of polysaccharides. The focus here is on the encapsulation of active ingredients and bacteria with hydrogels. This includes both the chemical-analytical characterization of the polymers and the encapsulation strategy with the bacteria. Commercial polysaccharides such as alginates and carrageenans will first be investigated as hydrogels.

In addition, different concentrations of nutrients, water and protective substances must be set in the capsules in order to ensure the stable viability of the encapsulated rhizobia for more than 6 months.

After the bacteria have been encapsulated, the suitability of common drying processes (freeze drying, vacuum drying, spray drying, fluidized bed drying) for storage and application must be examined for the formulation. An important practical aspect when using these methods is the reduction of the drought stress that occurs on the bacteria through specific protective substances.

Finally, the aim is to find a stable formulation that, in addition to the stably encapsulated rhizobia, also contains micro-clover seeds so that a corresponding granulate can be used.

The Biodiversity and Evolution of Plants working group and the Botanical Garden (headed by Prof. Dr. Dirk Albach) at the Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences (BU) at the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg deal with the importance of intraspecific diversity for evolution and survival of plant species. These questions are analyzed with the help of studies of the phenotype but above all also DNA-based analyzes of the genome and the transcriptome as well as endophytic microorganisms, i.e. fungi and bacteria that live inside the plants. Applied aspects of plant breeding appear again and again, e.g. the importance of genetic diversity for yield in agriculture. The working group is active in several national and international research projects in this area. For example, the employees were involved in projects on the evolution of antibiotic ingredients in rhododendrons or on breeding pest-resistant apple varieties. In addition to 3.7 hectares of display areas, the botanical garden also has 1.5 hectares of test areas and, in the working group, modern laboratories with all the necessary equipment for the project. The working group is currently working on the use of clover species and variety diversity in agriculture in the BEESPOKE project funded by the EU (Interreg V A program). The aim of the project is to maintain the yield in the grassland, to make the grassland more drought-resistant and to increase the range of flowers for insect diversity. In this project, the expertise is to be transferred and expanded to horticulture.

Since it was founded on December 18th, 1956, the Baumschulberatungsring Weser-Ems e.V. has been available to advise its members. After the initial 23 member companies, today more than 200 companies are represented as full members of the association. About another 100 companies use the possibility of a corresponding or supra-regional membership with limited services.