University Communications and Press Office

Over the course of evolution, plants have developed an elegant strategy to counteract a lack of phosphate in the soil — they form symbiotic relationships with soil fungi. These mycorrhizal fungi efficiently supply their plant partners with phosphate and other essential minerals. Recently, scientists at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) in Halle, in collaboration with partners at the University of Bonn, discovered a molecular switch that detects the plant's phosphate content and signals whether to initiate or inhibit the symbiosis. This signaling pathway could enable plants to form partnerships with soil fungi even when sufficient phosphate is available. The study, published in the renowned journal Science Advances, offers a potential solution to a long-standing agricultural problem and opens new avenues for reducing fertilizer use.

The element sodium plays a key role in nervous system function. An international research team headed by the Institute of Neurobiology at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), in collaboration with the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn, has now conducted a closer examination of the sodium concentration in astrocytes – special cells in the brain. To achieve this, the researchers developed a method, via which they can make the sodium content of individual cells in tissue directly visible, as they now describe in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

North Rhine-Westphalia will become home to a new unit within the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), one of Europe’s leading networks for artificial intelligence research. The newly approved ELLIS Unit NRW brings together leading AI researchers and large-scale computing infrastructure across the region to advance open-source foundation models, trustworthy machine learning and AI applications for real-world environments.

The North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts welcomed eleven new members at its annual ceremony, including three from the University of Bonn: Professor Hendrik Hakenes, a financial market economist; Professor Claudia Wich-Reif, a German scholar; and Professor Anna-Katharina Hornidge, a sociologist. The four women and seven men who make up the academy are united by exceptional research work and creative excellence in their area of expertise.