Interview with our alumna Prof. Dr. Roberta Paulert from University of Parana in Brazil published in WWU alumni magazine

The current issue of the alumni magazine of the University of Münster features an article on Dr. Roberta Paulert, who received her Dr. rer. nat. from our university in 2010 and who is now professor for plant biotechnology at the University of Parana in Palotina, Brazil. Supported by a doctoral fellowship from DAAD, Roberta’s project with us aimed to elucidate the mode of action of the green algal polysaccharide ulvan in stimulating the immune system of plants. In a small collaboration with Bayer Crop Science, she developed ulvan as a potential plant protectant, but this lead was not continued commercially because polymers are too difficult to formulate as an agricultural product. As a consequence, Roberta started working on ulvan oligomers, and this is a research threat that we are still continuing to date. In a collaboration with Prof. Niehaus from Bielefeld University, she also performed our first metabolomics studies, a method we are only now taking up again. Next year, Roberta will visit us for three months to support us in this project. As a professor in Brazil, one of Roberta’s main responsibilities is the Botanical Garden for Medicinal Plants which she is using not only for teaching purposes, but also for extension work, bringing plant sciences to the general public - a crucial task for the Botanical and Medicinal Gardens of our university, too. We will be happy to have here back, soon!