MIE welcomes PhD student Dimitra Papantoniou

Dimitra Papantoniou is a first year PhD student in the laboratory of Plant and Environmental Biotechnology in the department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece. Her PhD thesis focuses on the mechanisms of action of endophytic fungi in legume and tomato roots and their implication in the defense and development of the plants. More precisely, Dimitra is working with the endophytic fungus Fusarium solani strain FsK that was isolated from the roots of tomato plants grown on a suppressive compost. During her visit in iDiv - MIE, she aims to investigate tripartite interaction systems, where FsK and arthropods coexist on tomato plants. In this context, she is getting trained in specific volatile collection and analyses techniques by Dr. Alexander Weinhold to apply this knowledge in her experiment as well as back at her home institute. Dimitra Papantoniou is supervised by Dr. Alexander Weinhold.