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, BMFTR, BMLEH, EU and GFPi along with additional private-public partnerships and scholarships.
Since April 2023 our department is leading the International Research Training Group IRTG 2843 "Accelerating Crop Genetic Gain", an international graduate school in cooperation 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 JLU's 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
- Schlichtermann R-H, Häuser C, Weber SE, Scheer L, Tietgen H, Welna G, Schiessl SV, Wittkop B, Snowdon RJ (2025) Enhancing faba bean breeding efficiency through insect pollination and smart crossing schemes. The Crop Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cj.2025.08.010
- Afsharyan NP, Golicz AA, Snowdon RJ (2025) Pangenomic structural variant patterns reflect evolutionary diversification in Brassica napus. Genome Biology 26, 381, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-025-03833-x
- Golicz AA, Yildiz G, Weber S, Kox T, Abbadi A, Snowdon RJ, Zanini SF (2025) Graphical pangenomics-enabled characterisation of structural variant impact on gene expression in Brassica napus. Theor Appl Genet 138, 91. doi: 10.1007/s00122-025-04867-2
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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