Department of Plant Breeding
Research
Research interests in the JLU Giessen Department of Plant Breeding cover various aspects of quantitative and molecular genetics, genomics and breeding of oilseed rape, sorghum, faba bean, wheat and barley. Currently the department comprises three senior scientists, three additional postdocs and 15 PhD students, assisted by numerous technicians, MSc and BSc students. Most of our projects are funded by grants from DFG, The Humboldt Foundation, BMBF, BMEL/FNR, EU and GFPi along with additional private-public partnerships and scholarships.
Since April 2023 our department is leading IRTG 2843 "Accelerating Crop Genetic Gain", an International Research Training Group with the University of Queensland, Australia. Our main research focus is on implementation and development of genomic, phenomic and biotechnological innovations to improve response to selection in major crop plants. At agricultural research stations in Rauischholzhausen and Gross Gerau we run field trials and variety testing for several crop species along with a sorghum hybrid breeding programme. The Rauischholzhausen field station also houses our unique DroughtSpotter XXL precision plant phenotyping facility.
Professor of Plant Breeding
Contact
Department of Plant Breeding, Justus Liebig University
IFZ Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition
Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 641 / 99 37421
Fax: +49 (0) 641 / 99 37429
Recent publication highlights
- Wang TC, Rose T, Zetzsche H, Ballvora A, Friedt W, Kage H, Léon J, Lichthardt C, Ordon F, Snowdon RJ, Stahl A, Stützel H, Wittkop B, Chen TW (2025) Multi-environment field trials for wheat yield, stability and breeding progress in Germany. Sci Data 12, 64. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-04332-7
- Ugwuanyi S, Makhoul M, Golicz AA, Obermeier C, Snowdon RJ (2025) Multiple copy number variants of VC1 gene reveal single-copy expression as a key determinant of vicine content. Front. Plant Sci. 16:1565210, doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1565210
- Augustine S, Cherian A, Paridhi P, Ugwuanyi S, Rashid M, Knoblauch B, Tzigos S, Pullamsetti S, Snowdon R (2025) Electrical current-mediated transformation for efficient plant genome editing: A case study in faba bean. Legume Science 7: e70031. https://doi.org/10.1002/leg3.70031
- Qian L, Yang L, Liu X, Wang T, Kang L, Chen H, Lu Y, Zhang Y, Yang S, You L, Yao M, Xiang X, Cui K, Guo Y, Yang B, Yan M, Xia S, Meng J, Lin T, Mason AS, Snowdon RJ, Liu Z (2025) Natural variations in TT8 and its neighboring STK confer yellow seed with elevated oil content in Brassica juncea. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 122: e2417264122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2417264122