Chemical compounds released by microbes, animals and plants into their environment can be used as signals (infochemicals) in food webs. A key challenge for NIOO is to understand how the exchange of chemical information shapes biotic interactions and the evolution of species in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Our aims are:

  • Establish a unifying framework for the role of chemical communication in ecosystem functioning and stability.
  • Open new avenues for conserving and restoring our global soil and freshwater ecosystems.
  • Reveal mechanisms of real time chemical communication modulating interactions between microbes, insects, plants and animals.

Exploring bioactive metabolites and ways of chemical communication will result in novel sustainable natural compounds to be used in biotechnology and healthcare as antimicrobials, elicitors, signals or bio-indicators.

 

Contact

afbeelding van Paul Bodelier
Paul Bodelier

afbeelding van Paolina Garbeva
Paolina Garbeva

Spotlight

We like the scent of humid soil after a rainshower. What we smell is geosmin, a volatile produced by bacteria living in the soil.