From the classroom into the research lab: Sharing knowledge about phages in Microbiology lab at SYNMIKRO

“Jugend forscht” award winners discuss bacteriophages in plant protection at university and MPI

At the invitation of Prof. Dr. Katharina Höfer, two winners of the national "Jugend forscht" competition conducted experiments at the SYNMIKRO center. The students focused on bacteriophages in their research project. In their project, they had isolated phages from soil samples and found a new phage that combats harmful bacteria in plants.

Misha Hegde and Mia Maurer, two students from Seeheim-Jugenheim, won the 2025 national “Jugend forscht” competition in biology. Their award-winning project focused on bacteriophages, which are viruses that attack only bacteria. For their project, they isolated phages from soil samples. Their goal was to demonstrate that these viruses can combat bacterial pathogens in living plants. In the process, they discovered a previously unknown phage.

Prof. Dr. Katharina Höfer from the University of Marburg invited the students to a two-day scientific exchange to support their future research. Dr. Höfer studies the molecular changes that phages use to infect and control their hosts. At SYNMIKRO, a joint center of the University of Marburg and the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, the students had the opportunity to continue their research using state-of-the-art methods.

The newly discovered phage specifically kills plant-damaging bacteria, including Rhizobium rhizogenes, which causes tumor-like growths on roots. Further research into phage-host interactions could, in the long term, lead to a reduction in the use of antibiotics in plant production.

"We are delighted to support Misha and Mia in their research project and take a closer look at their discovery," says Höfer. "We want to give the students an opportunity to engage in technical discussions and enable them to investigate the mechanisms of action of their phage in more detail using molecular biological methods. For example, omics approaches can be used to determine how the phage specifically recognizes and kills plant-damaging hosts."

In subsequent experiments, Misha and Mia intend to explore the potential of using their phage to combat bacterial diseases in living plants. Experiments involving carrot slices infected with bacteria will determine if the viruses from garden soil are suitable for biological pest control.