The Botany Laboratory is part of the Faculty of Archaeology, University of Leiden. Under the supervision of Dr Mike Field, research is carried out here on archaeo- and palaeo-botanical material including seeds and fruits, pollen and spores, and wood.

The Hague is alive with nature – you just have to look

PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Golm – Germany

The Green algae Chara as model system for intra and inter cellular transport processes.

Increasing above- and belowground biodiversity in arable leek cultivation to stimulate pest control by natural enemies.

Which plant leaf characteristics are involved in thrips resistance in tomato?

Emeritus professor at the Natural Products Laboratory, Institute of Biology, Leiden University - the Netherlands

How many species of plants, animals and fungi live in Leiden? Leiden is observing and recording how many unique species there are in Leiden, to put the state of urban nature on the map. Residents (and scientists) will record every spider, snail, mushroom or dandelion they come across during ‘Expeditie…

The name ‘Jambi flora’ refers to fossil plants found as part of a rock formation from the Early Permian (296 million years old), located in the Jambi Province of Sumatra, Indonesia.

The study of orchid flowers, fruits, and inflorescences is crucial due to the remarkable diversity of orchid species and their unique adaptations to pollinators and seed dispersers. However, our understanding of the evolution and development of these organs within the orchid family remains limited.

Pectin is a plant cell wall polysaccharide made of mainly D-galacturonic acid (GA) subunits. The potency of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger to naturally secrete high amounts of pectinases to degrade pectin has been utilized for the industrial production of pectinases.

This article describes the creation of an app that can help raise climate awareness and the action globally.

A management strategy has been developed for field margins to reduce pesticide drift to non-target areas and to promote biodiversity on arable land. To this end, 3 and 6 m wide strips along the edges of winter wheat, sugar beet and potato crops have been left unsprayed with herbicides and insecticides…

This thesis describes the functional analysis of the Arabidopsis AHL15 gene.

This book provides the answers, presenting clear insights into the current state of affairs and exploring future prospects.

Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria - South Africa

Understanding DNA repair mechanisms is essential for advancing plant biotechnology and crop improvement. This study investigates how double-strand breaks (DSBs), induced by CRISPR/Cas systems, are repaired in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and how these processes influence Agrobacterium tumefaciens…

The mycorrhizal symbiosis is among the most widespread species interactions on Earth⁠. This thesis focuses on orchid mycorrhiza, a unique mycorrhizal type that has caught scientists’ attention for centuries⁠.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a major cereal crop that millions of subsistence farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rely on. However, the scourging impact of the root parasitic weed Striga (Striga hermonthica, a.k.a. “witch-weed”) has remained a major constraint hampering the productivity of sorghum in…

The type-IV secretion system (T4SS) is a machinery able to transfer DNA and proteins between bacteria and in certain cases also to eukaryotic cells.

This thesis explores how bees and hoverflies are distributed across the Dutch landscape and how ecological and landscape factors shape their occurrence.

Factors affecting galanthamine production in Narcissus

Collaborators and advisors of the Plant BioDynamics Laboratory

For information about the programme, please contact one of the following persons.

How do archaeologists test ideas about the evolution of the modern brain? Veni-researcher Geeske Langejans and then Master student Paul Kozowyk (Leiden University) prepared different Prehistoric glue recipes and tested these for strength in modern test machines at the Delft University of Technology.

Climate change is a challenge for both current and future generations. New biological resources have to be developed in order to meet the demand for energy as well as the demand for food.

In September 2023, we will be transforming a under-utilised outdoor space into a greener and more biodiverse garden in which all students and staff of the Schouwburgstraat can relax and enjoy.

We live in a world of things and people in the past must have been as closely entangled with their material surroundings as we are now. In the Laboratory for Artefact Studies Van Gijn takes a close look at the biographies of objects: what kind of raw material an object is made off and what is its provenience,…

A liveable planet. More biodiversity. And resources which are being managed wisely. At the CML, we want to make an impact with our research and education. On this website you can read what we do to achieve that.

We aim to understand ion homeostasis in the model eukaryote S. cerevisiae.

The research aims to understand how did Cuban and Dominican landscape encapsulate historical conceptual transformations about human –nature spiritual interaction after the Spanish conquest? More specifically, what are the present day cultural associations with Cuban and Dominican natural landscape?…

This thesis presents the systematics, epidermal defense, and bioprospecting of wild orchids.

The Old Observatory is located on the grounds of the Hortus. This is the oldest surviving university observatory in the world. Since 1633, the University of Leiden has used the various rooms for the education of students. The Visitor Center on the ground floor of the Old Observatory is part of the Hortus…

Publication of Johann Natterer's (1787-1843) word lists of Amazonian languages.

The Metabolomics Facility of the University of Leiden has brought together two research groups from the Faculty of Science that are well-known for their expertise in two different fields: the Biomedical Metabolomics Facility Leiden, experts in clinical metabolomics and the Natural Products Laboratory,…

Our facilities cover:

The Advisory Board of the IBL consists of five eminent scientists with specialist expertise in complementary disciplines. They all have prominent positions for the field of Biology in the Netherlands outside our own institute.

In this thesis I examine how soil biotic and abiotic characteristics change and interact throughout the course of afforestation and how they subsequently impact tree performance.

In the Life Science & Technology (LST) degree programme you study the functioning and applications of the living cell: the building block of all plants, humans, animals and micro-organisms. This can be your contribution to a clean and healthy world.

Investigating the intercultural connections that shaped practices of knowledge production in colonial Dutch Brazil.

Pathogenic bacteria are increasingly resistant to today’s antibiotics. Professor Gilles van Wezel seeks new forms of antibiotics in good bacteria that live in the soil.

The Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) is an internationally oriented institute for research and education in biology.