Ecometabolomics in a Nutshell
Date
23-24 March 2019 (2 x half day)
Location
UCAS, Yanqihu Campus, Beijing, China
Credit points
0.25 CP (8 hours of work)
Course Language
English
Target Group
Doctoral Researchers; interested Postdocs and PIs are welcome
Contents
In this course we will provide a basic understanding of how plant chemicals shape above and belowground multitrophic interactions. We will specify what the term (eco)metabolomics means. We will illustrate how ecometabolomic approaches help to understand particular ecological questions in BEF projects such as TreeDì. We will briefly discuss which analytical platforms are used and how to select the right one. Finally, we will specify how to sample plant and other organic materials for ecometabolomic analyses in the field.
Goal
In this course, the participants will gain a basic understanding of:
- Plant metabolites: compound classes and their biological function in nature
- Metabolomics for ecology and biodiversity research
- Chemical analytical platforms used for metabolomics
- Requirements for sampling, preservation and preparation of materials for metabolomics analyses
Didactic Elements
The course will consist of (interactive) lectures. References (book, book chapters) on plant metabolomics will be provided as PDF for later reference.
You will need
Basic biological knowledge on plant (tree) physiology and biotic interactions.
Expected performance
Participants should attend the lectures and are expected to respond to interactive questions. In the end, they all have to answer the question if they see a role for metabolomics in their own project or TreeDi as a whole, and why (not).
Lecturer(s) in charge
Prof. Nicole van Dam
nicole.vandam@idiv.de
Nicole van Dam studied Biology at Wageningen University, Netherlands, which focus on plant physiology and phytochemistry. This was followed by a PhD in chemical ecology of plant-insect interactions at Leiden University, NL, and several postdocs in USA, Germany and Netherlands. Since 2014 she is research group leader Molecular Interaction Ecology (MIE) at iDiv and Full professor at Univ. of Jena, Germany. She also founded the Ecometabolomics Platform at iDiv, and teaches in PhD and MSc courses on Chemical and Molecular Ecology and metabolomics.
Dr. Alexander Weinhold
alexander.weinhold@idiv.de
Alexander Weinhold studied Environmental Chemistry at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, which was followed by a PhD in chemical ecology of plant-herbivore interactions at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany. After postdocs in the USA and Belgium, he became postdoctoral researcher in the MIE group at iDiv in 2014. He is leading several research projects in metabolomics analyses of plants, with a specialization in LC-qToF-MS and GC-MS analyses of volatiles. He has taught in several PhD courses, a.o. Ecometabolomics and Plant Volatiles.
