For thousands of years’ man has been selecting living beings that in some way bring benefit and this has had profound impact on human history and civilization. Our methods and strategy of selection implemented for creating new plant varieties, which we refer to as plant breeding, are by and large still based on empirical expertise. Hence the idea that plant breeding is an art. In fact, it mostly is profound knowledge of a crop, insight into the market, avoiding risks and a bit of luck. We are however arriving at a turning point whereby recent discoveries are paving the way how breeding will no longer be merely based on chance but also uses our insight into chromosome biology and implements molecular tools that can modulate genetic diversity. The research of our team is geared to contribute to the development of such technologies whereby we aim to simplify and accelerate the breeding process. A favorite field of research is plant meiosis as this forms the basis for genetic diversity of most of our crops.

Plant in vitro culture or also called tissue culture is used by the ornamental industry and silviculture for mass production of selected varieties and elite lines. In vitro cultivation of microspores, ovules, and protoplast regeneration are implemented in breeding companies that use, or aim to develop, doubled haploid hybrid technology. For several decades the technology has been developed and fine tuned by empiric approaches testing different types of culturing media, growth conditions, types of explants, and using a handful of different hormones. Finding that unique protocol for propagation or regeneration is viewed as a gold mine to set up a business or to gain competitive advantage. Unfortunately, comparatively to other plant research fields, little effort has been done to dig into the fundamental mechanisms of plant regeneration and plant propagation. Yet, insight into these processes will be needed to get in vitro culture out of the dark and create new opportunities for the industry. Our primary approach consists of selecting and implementing small chemicals that influence organogenesis and regeneration. We study the mode of action of these chemicals and identify by means of structure function activity analyses the molecular processes and genetic factors required for bioactivity.

The amount of fruit and vegetables we are transporting around the world is enormous and this creates problems of reducing farmer’s income, congestion, mineral imbalances, food losses etc. Consuming food we never have seen produced also disconnects us from what we eat and feeds the lack of respect for the efforts that go into generating all that produce. At the same time, we should consume more fruits and vegetables and reduce intake of other, less healthy, food stuff. How can we influence production and consumption of fruits and vegetables? City farming is becoming a popular concept (you may call it a hype) that draws a lot of attention from entrepreneurs and policy makers. Proper scientific investigation should back-up the dreams of producing vegetables and fruits inside the city. Regardless of the feasibility of self-sufficiency by city farming, hydroponic culture is an important branch of vegetables and fruits production which is still a rather recent technology compared to production in open field. Hence there has not been as much research invested and major improvements in yield, quality and sustainability are still possible to increase economic profitability and to reduce environmental impact.  Our goal is to contribute to hydroponic cultivation technology including indoor farming and life support systems by studying plant physiology of hydroponically grown crops. A focus of research is the root microbiome of vegetables grown in hydroponic systems.