Barbara Ann Halkier
Plant specialized metabolism
As organic chemists par excellence, plants produce an amazing array of diverse metabolites and the unique natural products (also called specialized metabolites) are essential for plant fitness and survival. Our research focuses on plant specialized metabolites with the goal to gain understanding of pathway orchestration, transport processes from site of synthesis to storage and the role of specialized metabolites in the communication and interaction with other organisms in the surroundings. As model compounds we use the glucosinolates that function as defense compounds, signaling cues as well as nutritional factors. The gained knowledge is applied in pathway and transport engineering to increase plant disease resistance, remove anti-nutritional compounds in e.g. seed meal, and to promote human health.
Since 2012, Professor Barbara Ann Halkier is Head of DynaMo Center of Excellence. In DynaMo, we seek to understand the dynamics of molecular processes that enable a plant to coordinate growth and survival in the everchanging environment, using glucosinolates in Arabidopsis as model system.
Research topics
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Student projects
The projects listed below are suggestions. You are welcome to contact Barbara Ann Halkier and discuss the possibilities of designing another project.
- CRISPR/Cas9 technology to develop plant-based protein for human consumption
- Transporter engineering to prevent toxins in seeds using Crispr technology
- Decoding of the chemical language of plants
- Synthetic biology to engineer the production of health-promoting bioactives in microbial cell factories in industrial biotechnology
- Beneficial microbiome(s) towards the future of sustainable agriculture
- Application of advanced synthetic biology to build an efficient yeast cell factory producing health-promoting glucosinolates
Barbara Ann Halkier
Barbara Ann Halkier
Professor, Head of Center
DynaMo Center
Dept. of Plant and Environmental Sciences
University of Copenhagen
Thorvaldsensvej 40, T230
DK-1871 Frederiksberg C
bah@plen.ku.dk
Phone +45 353-33342
Publications
CV
ORCID: 0000-0002-3742-702X
News
Group members
Deyang Xu, Assistant Professor
Niels Christian Holm Sanden, PhD student
Line Lykke Hansen, PhD student
Michal Poborsky, PhD student
William Thomas Wajn, PhD student
Laura Dethier, PhD student
Christoph Crocoll, Facility Manager
Gaudry Bruno Troché, Research Assistant
Ojas Tulsyan, Research Assistant
Louise Svenningsen, Laboratory Technician
Josephine Jensen, Laboratory Trainee
Noël Jung, MSc student
Lasse Meyer, MSc student
Elena Pupi, Erasmus intern