Göttinger Graduiertenzentrum für Neurowissenschaften, Biophysik und Molekulare Biowissenschaften

Lipka, Volker, Prof. Dr.

Professor of Plant Cell Biology


  • Dr. rer.nat. at the Department for Plant Molecular Biology, Technical University Aachen, 1999
  • Postdoctoral fellow at the SainsburyLaboratory, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK, 1999-2000
  • Postdoctoral fellow at the Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, 2000-2004
  • Leader of an independent research group at the Department for Plant Biochemistry, Centre for Plant Molecular Biology, University of Tübingen, 2004-2007
  • Leader of an independent research group at the Sainsbury Laboratory, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK, 2007-2009
  • Professor at the University of Göttingen since 2009



Major Research Interests

Our department is interested in the molecular analysis of plant innate immunity.

Our research is focused on the

1) molecular dissection of mechanisms that control activation of basal defense in the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana (chitin receptor complex formation & processing; downstream signal transduction; cell death activation and containment) [e.g. Erwig et al., 2017; Petutschnig et al., 2014]

2) analysis of plant defense mechanisms that contribute to resistance against fungal pathogens (pathogen invasion control; pathogen-induced cell polarization; orchestrated organelle relocalization; subcellular compartmentalization; production, transport & discharge of toxic metabolites) [e.g. Fuchs et al., 2016]

3) identification of fungal effector molecules that interfere with the plant defense machinery and allow host plant colonization (effector-mediated reprogramming of host plant development; pathogen-induced drought stress tolerance) [e.g. Reusche et al. , 2012; Reusche et al., 2014].

We combine genetics, cell biology, molecular biology and biochemistry in our experimental strategies to gain novel insights into these complex mechanisms.


Homepage Department/Research Group

http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/33181.html



Selected Recent Publications


  • Erwig J, Ghareeb H, Kopischke M, Hacke R, Matei A, Petutschnig EK. Lipka V (2017) Chitin-induced and CHITIN ELICITOR RECEPTOR KINASE1 (CERK1) phosphorylation-dependent endocytosis of Arabidopsis thaliana LYSIN MOTIF-CONTAINING RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE5 (LYK5). New Phytologist 215(1): 382-396.doi: 10.1111/nph.14592.
  • Fuchs R, Kopischke M, Klapprodt C, Hause G, Meyer AJ, Schwarzländer M, Fricker MD, and Lipka V (2016) Immobilized Subpopulations of Leaf Epidermal Mitochondria Mediate PENETRATION2-Dependent Pathogen Entry Control in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 28: 130-145.
  • Petutschnig EK, Stolze M, Lipka U, Kopischke M, Horlacher J, Valerius O, Rozhon W, Gust AA, Kemmerling B, Poppenberger B, Braus GH, Nürnberger T, and Lipka V (2014) A novel Arabidopsis CHITIN ELICITOR RECEPTOR KINASE 1 (CERK1) mutant with enhanced pathogen-induced cell death and altered receptor processing. New Phytologist 204(4): 955-967. doi: 10.1111/nph.12920
  • Reusche M, Truskina J, Thole K, Nagel L, Rindfleisch S, Tran VT, Braus-Stromeyer SA, Braus GH, Teichmann T, Lipka V (2014) Infections with the vascular pathogens Verticillium longisporum and Verticillium dahliae induce distinct disease symptoms and differentially affect drought stress tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana. Environmental and Experimental Botany 108: 23-37.
  • Reusche M, Thole K, Janz D, Truskina J, Rindfleisch S, Drübert C, Polle A, Lipka V*, and Teichmann T (2012). Verticillium Infection triggers VASCULAR-RELATED NAC DOMAIN7-Dependent de novo xylem formation and enhances drought tolerance in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell 24: 3823-3837.* corresponding author
  • Willmann R, Lajunen HM, Erbs G, Newman MA, Kolb D, Tsuda K, Katagiri F, Fliegmann J, Bono JJ, Cullimore JV, Jehle AK, Götz F, Kulik A, Molinaro A, Lipka V, Gust AA, Nürnberger T (2011) Arabidopsis lysin-motif proteins LYM1 LYM3 CERK1 mediate bacterial peptidoglycan sensing and immunity to bacterial infection. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 108(49), 19824-19829.
  • Petutschnig EK, Jones AM, Serazetdinova L, Lipka U, Lipka V (2010) The Lysin Motif Receptor-like Kinase (LysM-RLK) CERK1 is a major chitin-binding protein in Arabidopsis thaliana and subject to chitin-induced phosphorylation. J Biol Chem 285(37), 28902-28911.
  • Gimenez-Ibanez S, Hann DR, Ntoukakis V, Petutschnig E, Lipka V*, Rathjen JP* (2009) AvrPtoB targets the LysM receptor kinase CERK1 to promote bacterial virulence on plants. Curr Biol 19, 423-429, *co-corresponding authors.
  • Kwon C, Neu C, Pajonk S, Yun HS, Lipka U, Humphry ME, Bau S, Straus M, Rampelt H, El Kasmi F, Jürgens G, Parker J, Panstruga R*, Lipka V*, Schulze-Lefert P* (2008) Co-option of a default secretory pathway for plant immune responses. Nature 451, 835-840, *co-corresponding authors.
  • Lipka V, Dittgen J, Bednarek P, Bhat RA, Stein M, Landtag J, Brandt W, Scheel D, Llorente F, Molina A, Wiermer M, Parker J, Somerville SC, Schulze-Lefert P (2005) Pre- and post-invasion defenses both contribute to non-host resistance in Arabidopsis. Science 310, 1180-1183.