18.03.2024
On 14 March 2024, Anne-Katrin Kersten and Marina Gerling successfully completed their dissertations at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Since 2019,
Marina Gerling has been working as a PhD student in ZALF's first Integrated Priority Project "SWBTrans - Small Water Bodies in an agricultural landscape – Ecosystem services in spatial and temporal within-field transition zones ", investigating the effects of weeds at the edges of kettle holes as intermediate hosts for phytopathogenic fungi. Infected grasses in particular, which are frequently found on the uncultivated edges of kettle holes in the AgroScapLab Quillow, can be the source of the spread of these fungi into the surrounding wheat fields. An infection with these fungal immigrants can then lead to plant diseases and toxin contamination in wheat ears. Mrs Gerling was able to prove the strong influence of microclimatic factors on these processes in the transition zones between kettle holes and fields.
In an application-orientated EIP-Agri project (European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability),
Anne-Katrin Kersten took up information from the Spreewald cucumber growers and investigated the possible causes of the Spreewald cucumbers, which are so popular with consumers, becoming soft. In close co-operation with the growers and scientists of several institutions, she worked out the role of plant viruses and fungi in this process along the entire production chain from cultivation to harvesting and preservation. At the same time, she provided valuable information on the role of spider mites and their biological control in cucumber cultivation.
We would like to congratulate Mrs Kersten and Mrs Gerling on this great success and wish them all the best for their future personal and professional careers.
