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Joseph-Gottlieb Kölreuter Institute for Plant Sciences
April-September Mo-Fr 8-16, So 10-16, October-March Mo-Fr 8-15, So 10-14, entrance free! How to find us
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The Garden as Biodiversity-HotspotBiodiversity is at stake, especially in cities. Refugia of diversity are vital, therefore, to prevent extinction. Due to its nature, the Botanical Garden assembles a great diversity of plant species on small areas. This creates very diverse, small, ecosystems that are attractive for further life forms. At iNaturalist, a civil society movement to document biodiversity, the Botanical Garden again and again emerges as true biodiversity hotspot in Karlsruhe. This became recently clear again in the course of the Do-it-yourself activity BioBlitz, where, upon request of the Association of Botanical Gardens, dedicated citizens, organised by the Association of the Garden Friends documented and compiled nature observations. more... The highlight was a spectacular sight of the Seventhorned Wool Bee, a wild bee species at the verge of extinction. This observation demonstrates again that the Botanical Garden is also a precious refugium for numerous species of animals, plants, and fungi that have become rare. |
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Research News
Climate changes makes sea levels rise making fertile coastal land salty. The Nile delta, Bangladesh, Vietnam, but also the South of Italy are already today confronted with salt stress. Can we find crop plants that are able to thrive on such soils? In the past, we have, initiated by our Syrian colleague Dr. Adnan Kanbar, focused on stress resilience in Sorghum Millet. This ancient crop originates from Sudan and can cope with harsh conditions. In fact, we were able to show that some Sorghum varieties not only can grow under salinity, but accumulate more sugar when confronted with salinity. What happens to this sugar, differs - some Sorghum varieties store it in the shoot, what is interesting for bio-economic use (for instance for the production of bio-ethanol) others store it in their seeds, what supports food security in regions affected by soil salinity. During her PhD our colleague Eman Abuslima from Egypt was able to uncover the reason for the different sugar use: a gene switch for the sugar transporter SWEET13 decides. A very active version of this switch could be identified in the old Syrian landrace Razinieh. By breeding, this switch can now be crossed into other millet varieties, and by means of the molecular knowledge, the promising individuals in the progeny can be recognised already in the seedling stage by a simple PCR. Publication 216. Abuslima E, Kanbar A, Ismail A, Raorane ML, Eiche E, El-Sharkawy I, Junker BH, Riemann M, Nick P (2025) Salt stress-induced remodeling of sugar transport: a role for promoter alleles of SWEET13. Nature Sci Rep 15, 7580 - pdf
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Upcoming
Fabelhafte Fabaceen am So, 13.07.2025, 11:15-12:30, Dr. Annemarie Rubner. mehr... Diese Führung dreht sich rund um die große Familie der Schmetterlingsblütengewächse (Fabaceae). Bohnen, Linsen und Erbsen kennt jeder als heimische Nutzpflanzen. Doch die Familie beeindruckt mit vielen weiteren Nahrungspflanzen, Färbepflanzen, Gewürzen, Heilmitteln, wertvollen Nutzhölzern und Gartenschönheiten. Spannend ist auch das Thema der Stickstoff-Fixierung, das Zusammenleben mit Ameisen oder die Blattbewegungen der Mimose. Tauchen Sie ein in die faszinierende Welt der Fabaceae. Bionik für groß und klein am Do, 07.09.2025, 10:00-11:00, Dr. Beatrix Zaban. mehr...
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Plant of the Month: VictoriaIn the Waterlily House currently the gigantic leaves of the Giant Waterlily Victoria cruziana can be seen. End of August they will have reached one and a half meter in diameter. Every year, this waterlily is raised in early spring from the ground of the bassin. However, this year, it was nagged off by unknown predators. Only the second attempt, with material that was kindly provided by the Wilhelma in Stuttgart, was successful. Therefore, the leaves are a bit back, but they catch up with every day. The prominent rib pattern gives the huge leaves stability without increasing weight, which would make them sink. The British gardener Paxton understood this sophisticated principle and designed on this trick the famous Crystal Palace for the World Exhibition in London. This story is considered as the priming step for bionics. Who wants to learn more can join the excursion on September 09 by Dr. Zaban: Bionik für groß und klein am Do, 07.09.2025, 10:00-11:00, Dr. Beatrix Zaban. more... Background on the Giant Waterlily...
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What to see? |
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Vanilla fruiting (Tropische Nutzpflanzen) Carnivorous Sarracenia (Hochmoor)
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