Bilde av Krause, Kirsten
Bilde av Krause, Kirsten
Professor for Plant Molecular Biology Department of Arctic and Marine Biology kirsten.krause@uit.no +4777646415 You can find me here

Kirsten Krause


Job description

I want to understand how plants adapt to different environments and challenges. My previous work on cellular regulatory networks in the model plant spring meadowsweet has led me in recent years to explore the parasitic plant genus Cuscuta which feeds on the nutrients produced by other plants. The molecular mechanisms that the parasites use to adapt to the host and camouflage themselves so that the infection is not detected by the host plant may have biotechnological value and are therefore among the questions I hope to solve in my career.

In my further role as leader of the Graduate School "PHOTOSYNTECH" (2022-2030), a national educational platform for PhD students working within all fields of plant and algae sciences, I hope to be able to install my passion for research and innovation to early stage researchers.

Expertise: 

Parasitic plants
Plastid genomes
Plant mucilages


  • Hilary Edema, Thomas Georges A Bawin, Stian Olsen, Kirsten Krause, Katja Hannele Karppinen :
    Parasitic dodder expresses an arsenal of secreted cellulases with multi-substrate specificity during host invasion
    Plant physiology and biochemistry (Paris) 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Corine Alexis Faehn, Grzegorz Konert, Markku Keinänen, Katja Hannele Karppinen, Kirsten Krause :
    Advancing hyperspectral imaging techniques for root systems: a new pipeline for macro- and microscale image acquisition and classification
    Plant Methods 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Thomas Georges A Bawin, Kirsten Krause :
    Rising from the shadows: Selective foraging in model shoot parasitic plants
    Plant, Cell and Environment 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Maleen Hartenstein, Markus Albert, Kirsten Krause :
    The plant vampire diaries: a historic perspective on Cuscuta research
    Journal of Experimental Botany 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Thomas Georges A Bawin, Alena Didriksen, Corine Alexis Faehn, Stian Olsen, Iben Sørensen, Jocelyn KC Rose et al.:
    Cuscuta campestris fine-tunes gene expression during haustoriogenesis as an adaptation to different hosts
    Plant Physiology 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Thomas Georges A Bawin, Julien Hollmann, Stian Olsen, Kirsten Krause :
    A host-free transcriptome for haustoriogenesis in Cuscuta campestris: Signature gene expression identifies markers of successive development stages
    Physiologia Plantarum : An International Journal for Plant Biology 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Zahra Zangishei, Maria Luz Annacondia, Heidrun Gundlach, Alena Didriksen, Julien Bruckmüller, Hooman Salari et al.:
    Parasitic plant small RNA analyses unveil parasite-specific signatures of microRNA retention, loss, and gain
    Plant Physiology 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Benjamin M. Anderson, Kirsten Krause, Gitte Petersen :
    Mitochondrial genomes of two parasitic Cuscuta species lack clear evidence of horizontal gene transfer and retain unusually fragmented ccmFc genes
    BMC Genomics 2021 DOI
  • Hannah Schweitzer, Nerea Johanna Aalto, Wolfgang Busch, Dennis Tin Chat Chan, Matteo Chiesa, Edel O. Elvevoll et al.:
    Innovating carbon-capture biotechnologies through ecosystem-inspired solutions
    One Earth 2021 ARKIV / DOI
  • Karsten Fischer, Lena Anna-Maria Lachner, Stian Olsen, Maria Mulisch, Kirsten Krause :
    The enigma of interspecific plasmodesmata: insight from parasitic plants
    Frontiers in Plant Science 2021 ARKIV / DOI
  • Marlene Teubner, Benjamin Lenzen, Lucas Bernal Espenberger, Janina Fuss, Jörg Nickelsen, Kirsten Krause et al.:
    The Chloroplast Ribonucleoprotein CP33B Quantitatively Binds the psbA mRNA
    Plants 2020 ARKIV / DOI
  • Lena Anna-Maria Lachner, Levon Galstyan, Kirsten Krause :
    A highly efficient protocol for transforming Cuscuta reflexa based on artificially induced infection sites
    Plant Direct 2020 FULLTEKST / ARKIV / DOI
  • Volker Hegenauer, Peter Slaby, Max Körner, Julien Hollmann, Ronja Burggraf, Isabell Albert et al.:
    The tomato receptor CuRe1 senses a cell wall protein to identify Cuscuta as a pathogen
    Nature Communications 2020 DATA / FULLTEKST / OMTALE / ARKIV / DOI
  • Kirsten Krause, Stian Olsen :
    Screening for Cellulolytic Plant Enzymes Using Colorimetric and Fluorescence Methods
    Methods in molecular biology 2020 ARKIV / DOI
  • Rainer Schwacke, Gabriel Y. Ponce-Soto, Kirsten Krause, Anthony Bolger, Borjana Arsova, Asis Hallab et al.:
    MapMan4: a refined protein classification and annotation framework applicable to multi-omics data analysis.
    Molecular Plant 2019 ARKIV / DOI
  • Andrew Galloway, Paul Knox, Kirsten Krause :
    Sticky mucilages and exudates of plants – putative microenvironmental design elements with biotechnological value
    New Phytologist 2019 ARKIV / DOI
  • Stian Olsen, Kirsten Krause :
    A rapid preparation procedure for laser microdissection‑mediated harvest of plant tissues for gene expression analysis
    Plant Methods 2019 ARKIV / DOI
  • Frank Förste, Ioanna Mantouvalou, Birgit Kanngiesser, Hagen Stosnach, Lena Anna-Maria Lachner, Karsten Fischer et al.:
    Selective mineral transport barriers at Cuscuta-host infection sites
    Physiologia Plantarum : An International Journal for Plant Biology 2019 ARKIV / DOI
  • Kirsten Krause, Hanne Risan Johnsen, Anna Pielach, leidulf Lund, Karsten Fischer, Jocelyn KC Rose :
    Identification of tomato introgression lines with enhanced susceptibility or resistance to infection by parasitic giant dodder (Cuscuta reflexa)
    Physiologia Plantarum : An International Journal for Plant Biology 2018 DOI
  • German Martinez, Kirsten Krause :
    The parasitic plant haustorium: a trojan horse releasing microRNAs that take control of the defense responses of the host
    Non-coding RNA Investigation 2018 DOI
  • Sunniva Katharina Thode, Kirsten Krause :
    Photosyntech
    2024
  • Thomas Georges A Bawin, Grzegorz Konert, Corine Alexis Faehn, Markku Juhani Keinänen, Kirsten Krause, Inger Martinussen et al.:
    Capacity development for phenotyping Arctic plant biomass
    2024
  • Kirsten Krause, Karsten Fischer :
    Harnessing the genome and transcriptomes of Cuscuta to delve deeper into their secrets
    2024
  • Kirsten Krause :
    Variations of the interaction between parasitic dodders and their hosts.
    2024
  • Thomas Georges A Bawin, Stian Olsen, Alena Didriksen, Corine Alexis Faehn, Iben Sørensen, Jocelyn KC Rose et al.:
    Pas-de-deux featuring the parasitic dodder Cuscuta campestris and it s hosts
    2024
  • Sunniva Katharina Thode, Kirsten Krause :
    The Norwegian Graduate School on Photosynthetic Eukaryotes
    2023
  • Wiebke Häger, Thomas Georges A Bawin, Kirsten Krause, Thorsten Klaus Hamann :
    Exploring the role of cell-wall-degrading polygalacturonases in host-parasite interactions
    2023
  • Kirsten Krause :
    Go-Pro filming in laboratory-based teaching: possibilities and trade-offs.
    2023
  • Kirsten Krause :
    Welcome lecture for SPPS PhD conference "PhD101: Everything is hard before it gets easy"
    2023
  • Kirsten Krause, Grzegorz Konert :
    Photosynthesis Frenzy
    2023
  • Wiebke Häger, Thomas Georges A Bawin, Kirsten Krause, Thorsten Klaus Hamann :
    Unravelling the role of polygalacturonases in the interaction of parasitic plants and phytopathogens with their host plants
    2023
  • Kirsten Krause :
    One step ahead: How parasitic dodders take control over their hosts.
    2023
  • Kirsten Krause, Grzegorz Konert, Reidar Kaasa, Per Bjørnar Gjerp, Sunniva Katharina Thode, Corine Alexis Faehn et al.:
    Marble-ous Photosynthesis
    2023
  • Beatrix Enderle, Kirsten Krause, Andreas Hiltbrunner :
    Shade signals as essential components of host detection in the parasitic plant Cuscuta campestris
    2023
  • Liv-Irene Berglund, Kirsten Krause :
    Studentproduserte filmer i laboratorieundervisning
    2023 FULLTEKST
  • Corine Alexis Faehn, Andrew Galloway, Kirsten Krause :
    Plant slime: How plants use sticky sugars
    Frontiers for Young Minds 2023 DOI
  • Wiebke Häger, Thomas Georges A Bawin, Kirsten Krause, Thorsten Klaus Hamann :
    Exploring the role of cell-wall-degrading polygalacturonases in host-parasite interactions
    2022
  • Kirsten Krause, Sunniva Katharina Thode, Ulrike Naumann :
    Lovende samarbeid for mer matnyttig kunnskap i hele Norge
    Nordnorsk debatt - Nordlys 14. September 2022
  • Katja Karppinen, Charlotte Bour, Muhammad Furqan Ashraf, Hilary Edema, Amos Samkumar Rajan Premkumar, Teemu H. Teeri et al.:
    Genome mining for plant cell wall degrading enzymes of plant origin
    2022
  • Kirsten Krause :
    Nutrient selectivity of parasitic dodders and its implication for transport pathways
    2022
  • Lena Anna-Maria Lachner, Kirsten Krause :
    Approaches for the transformation of a parasitic plant
    2022
  • Kirsten Krause :
    The problem of recalcitrant cellulosic biomass: How can (parasitic) plants contribute to finding solutions?
    2022
  • Kirsten Krause :
    Picky parasites? Nutrient selectivity and its molecular causes in the interaction between parasitic dodders and their hosts
    2022
  • Kirsten Krause :
    Pflanze des Monats Juli 2019 im Botanischen Garten Kiel: Teufelszwirn (Cuscutae spec.)
    2019
  • Benjamin Anderson, Kirsten Krause, Gitte Petersen :
    Lack of evidence for horizontally transferred genes in mitochondria of Cuscuta species
    2019
  • Kirsten Krause :
    Something old, something new, something borrowed ... - plant genomes under the influence of a parasitic lifestyle
    2019
  • Kirsten Krause :
    Cuscuta campestris: A plant genome under the influence of a parasitic lifestyle
    2019
  • Kirsten Krause :
    Hide and Seek: Interactions between parasitic Cuscuta and their hosts
    2019
  • Thorsten Hamann, Anna Karkonen, Kirsten Krause :
    From plant cell wall metabolism and plasticity to cell wall biotechnology
    Physiologia Plantarum : An International Journal for Plant Biology 2018 DOI
  • Anna Avetisyan, Anush Panosyan, Martina Paponov, Ivan Paponov, Inger Martinussen, Kirsten Krause et al.:
    Teaching plant biology brings together Norway and Armenia as platform for international collaboration
    2018

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    Research interests

    Functional Plant Genomics (FunGen): Parasitic plants (Cuscuta)

    Parasitic plant/host plant interactions

    Parasitic plants live as parasites on and from other plants. This creates huge losses in agriculture when a field of crop plants is infected.Knowledge on the biology of these plants is therefore of high importance to combat them, but also to make use of their unusual traits.

     

    We have over the last years developed a set of tools for the parasitic plant genus Cuscuta spp. (dodder) that allow us to approach the molecular mechanisms underlying host plant/parasitic plant interactions. These include a sequenced genome (the first parasitic plant genome sequence), gene expression profiles for different species, different developmental stages and different growth conditions, proteomic data, sterile callus and shoot cultures, protocols for transient transfections of cells and an extensive microscpic image database including time lapse videos.

    Selected publications:

    - Zangishei Z. et al.: Plant Phys., https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiac331, 2022.

    - Bawin T.G.A. et al.: Physiol. Plant., DOI: 10.1111/ppl.13628, 2022.

    - Fischer K. et al.: Front. Plant Sci. 12, 641924, 2021.

    - Lachner LAM, Galstyan LB & Krause K: Plant Direct 4, e00254, 2020.

    - Förste  F. et al.: Physiol. Plant. 168, 934-947, 2020.

    - Olsen S & Krause K: Plant Meth. 15, 88, 2019.

    - Vogel A et al.: Nature Commun. 9, 2515, 2018.

     

    Cell wall degrading enzymes from parasitic plants

    Parasitic plants use hydrolytic enzymes to break down cell walls of their host plants but are able to protect their own cell walls from enzymatic attack. 

    We study the difference between cell wall composition in the parasite Cuscuta and its hosts and analyze the enzymes involved. This knowledge can help to develop novel, more specific enzyme cocktails for plant biomass hydrolysis. In addition, it helps us understand why some plants are not susceptible to the parasite.

    Selected publications:

    - Olsen S. et al.: Journal of Experimental Botany 67, 695-708, 2016.

    - Johnsen H.R., et al.: New Phytologist 207, 805-816, 2015.

    -Johnsen H.R. & Krause K: International Journal of Molecular Sciences 15, 2014.

     

    Functional Plant Genomics (FunGen): Arabidopsis thaliana

    Integration of plastids into the regulatory network of plant cells

    Dually targeted protein The genetic information in plant cells is distributed between three compartments (nucleus, plastids and mitochondria). To function properly, these genomes are need to communicate with each other to synchronize their expression.

    We are investigating how DNA binding proteins that are targeted within the cell with a special focus on proteins that have functions in the nucleus and in the chloroplasts. We are further interested how this  mutual communication between the plant genomes contributes to a fine-tuning and with it a harmonized expression of the genomes. 

    Selected publications:

    - Teubner, M. et al.: Plants 9, 367, 2020.

    - Teubner, M. et al.: Plant J. 89, 472-485, 2017.

    - Fuss, J. et al.: New Phytologist 200, 1022-1033, 2013.

    - Krause, K. & Krupinska, K.: Trends Plant Sci 14, 194-199, 2009.

     

     

    Teaching

    - Bio-2009 Green Biotechnology and Bioenergy

    - Bio-3118 Microscopical Imaging

    - Bio-3005/Bio8005 "MicroPlants" Seminar

    - Contributions to Bio-1008 Evolution and Fys-2017 Sustainable Energy.


    Member of research group


    CV

    1994 Diploma in Biology from the University of Hamburg, Germany.

    1995-2000 PhD studies at the Universities of Cologne and Kiel.

    2000-2002 Postdoc at the University of Arizona, USA, with a grant from the Geman Academic Exchange Organization (DAAD).

    2002-2006 Research Assisant at the University of Kiel, Germany. Venia legendi 2006.

    2006-2012 Researcher and YFF-Professor at the Department of Biology, University of Tromsø, Norway.

    Since 2012 Permanent position as Professor for Plant Molecular Biology at the Department for Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT - Campus Tromsø, Norway.

    2010 - 2018 Leader of the "Microorganisms and Plants Research Group" at the Department for Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT - Campus Tromsø, Norway.

    2016 - 2021 Holder of a ToppForsk Grant from Tromsø Research Foundation

    Since 2017 Member of the Arctic Centre for Sustainable Energy (ARC)

    2022 -        Leader of a National Graduate School, PhotosynTech

    2022 -        Faculty Board Member

    2022 -        Vice president in the Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society