Dr. Tobias Wojciechowski

Senior Scientist / Crop Physiologist

Areas of expertise

Biology (Biologie), Plant research (Pflanzenforschung), Interantional Bioeconomy (Internationale Biooekonomie), Plant Physiologie, Roots, Storage roots

Contact

+49 2461/61-96383

E-Mail

orcid: 0000-0003-3439-2500

google scholar

https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/ibg/ibg-2

Address

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße
52428 Jülich

Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG)

Plant Sciences (IBG-2)

Building 06.1 / Room 14

You can find us here

About me

At the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Plant Sciences (IBG-2) at Forschungszentrum Jülich we focus on sustainable solutions to improve plant production for a sustainable agriculture. Key areas include plant phenotyping, analysis of plant-environment interactions, and the development of technologies for the utilization of alternative biomass. By integrating molecular, physiological, and ecological approaches, we support the bioeconomy and promote resource efficiency and adaptation to changing climate conditions. Learn more at FZ Jülich IBG-2.

My research focuses on the development of storage roots and resource acquisition in crops. I am especially interested in examining the impacts of architectural and anatomical root traits on water and nutrient uptake, as well as identifying new root traits to enhance the biomass production of temperate and tropical crops. The majority of this work is conducted in various field settings across Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America. Furthermore, I am responsible for leading the technological development and validation of various phenotyping platforms.

I am currently the coordinatorco-ordinator of an international project in the field of international bioeconomy named the 'PiñaFibre' project. This initiative is centered around the utilization of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) to transform agricultural waste into textiles and non-woven composites. Bringing together interinternational partners from Thailand (NSTDA), Colombia (Agrosavia), and Germany (RWTH Aachen and Forschungszentrum Jülich), our common objective is to harness the potential of PALF for the textile industry.

Currently, I am coordinate efforts to combine of phenotypic data from 54,000 individual cassava plant root systems with the genetic information of 600 cassava accessions as part of the 'CASSAVASTORE' project. Consequently, we have sequenced these lines and produced de-novo sequences. In addition, we intend to substantiate our discoveries with RNASeq data from various root growth stages.

Third party funding:

2025 POF Seed Funding "Rak Sam Sib" Projekt - Plantation of Asparagus racemosus Willd. in salinity soil areas, dose-response curve for phytochemical profile, extraction and anti-fungal properties

2023- 2026 EU MSCA Doctoral Networks 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-DN-01): ROOTED,

2023 - 2028, expert EU HORIZON-CL6-2021-BIODIV-01-13: Root2Resilience: Root phenotyping and genetic improvement for rotational crops resilient to environmental change (Root2Res);

2022 -2027, leader of alternative crops BMBF – Bioeconomy International: Unlocking the potential of dual-purpose crop: utilization of pineapple leaf fibres for bio-based textiles (PiñaFibre),

2022 – 2025, project coordinator EU-ASEAN Joint Funding Scheme: model-based decision tool for irrigation of cassava irrigation (DIRECTION),

2020 – 2024, senior scientist BMBF – Bioeconomy International: Utilization of genetic and phenotypic variation of storage root development of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) to improve an important bio-economy crop (CASSAVASTORE),

2017 – 2021, project coordinator BMBF - GlobE: Improving food security in Africa through increased system productivity of biomass-based value webs (Biomassweb), 2013 – 2018, work package leader

Further affiliations:

Guest Professor at the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand

Vita

Professional Work Experience

2022 – 2023 National Science and Technology Development Agency, Thailand, Guest Professor;

2019 – 2023 Bioinformatics and System Biology, King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thailand, Guest lecturer;

2013 – present Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany, Senior Researcher: Phenotyping of root systems in field environments; effects of anatomical and architectural root traits on radial water and nutrient uptake in maize and barley; plasticity of root systems; effects of carbon partitioning on anatomical root traits; automation of root phenotyping in the field; storage root development in cassava and sweet potato;

2011 – 2012 School of Agriculture, Purdue University, USA Postdoctoral Research Associate (Field Geneticist): Carbon Partitioning project, screening of maize population, crosses to mapping populations, bulked segregant analysis, and characterization of novel genes involved in carbon partitioning in maize supported by NSF Plant Genome Research Program;

2010 – 2011 Scottish Crop Research Institute, UK, Plant Scientist: Analysing nucleoside monophosphate levels in potatoes funded by EU-Sol project;

2009 - 2011 Division of Plant Sciences, University of Dundee, UKLecturer: MRes courses “Crops for the Future”.

Publications

Publications (UsER) Dr. Tobias Wojciechowski

Selection of publications:

J. Wilhelm, T. Wojciechowski, J. A Postma, D. Jollet, K. Heinz, V. Böckem, M. Müller-Linow, Assessing the Storage Root Development of Cassava with a New Analysis Tool Plant Phenomics Volume 2022

K Suresh, VV Zeisler-Diehl, T Wojciechowski, L Schreiber, Comparing anatomy, chemical composition, and water permeability of suberized organs in five plant species: wax makes the difference Planta 256 (3), 60

José Correa, Johannes A Postma, Tobias Wojciechowski Phenotypic response to soil compaction varies among genotypes and correlates with plant size in sorghum (2022) Plant and Soil 472, pages 59–76

Porntip Chiewchankaset, Jittrawan Thaiprasit, Saowalak Kalapanulak, Tobias Wojciechowski, Patwira Boonjing, Treenut Saithong Effective Metabolic Carbon Utilization and Shoot-to-Root Partitioning Modulate Distinctive Yield in High Yielding Cassava Variety (2022) Frontiers in Plant Science 13, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.832304

Gregory, Peter J. and Wojciechowski, T Root systems of major tropical root and tuber crops: Root architecture, size, and growth and initiation of storage organs (2020) Advances in Agronomy 161 1-25

José Correa, Johannes A Postma, Michelle Watt, Tobias Wojciechowski Soil compaction and the architectural plasticity of root systems. (2019) Journal of Experimental Botany Volume 70, Issue 21, 6019–6034

Müller-Linow, M.; Wilhelm, J. ; Briese, C. ; Wojciechowski, T. ; Schurr, U. ; Fiorani, F. Plant Screen Mobile: an open-source mobile device app for plant trait analysisant. (2019) Plant methods 15(1), 2 [10.1186/s13007-019-0386-z].

Tove Sundgren, Anne Kjersti Uhlen, Morten Lillemo, Cristoph Briese, Tobias Wojciechowski Root growth and anatomy of spring wheat in response to waterlogging. Journal of Plant Physiology (2018) 227, 45-55

Hannah M. Schneider, Johannes A. Postma, Tobias Wojciechowski, Christian Kuppe, and Jonathan P. Lynch Root Cortical Senescence Improves Growth under Suboptimal Availability of N, P, and K. Plant physiology (2017) 174(4):pp.00648.2017

Hannah M. Schneider, Tobias Wojciechowski, Johannes A. Postma, Kathleen M. Brown, and Jonathan P. Lynch Ethylene Modulates Root Cortical Senescence Formation in Barley. Plant and Soil (2018) 122(1), 95 – 105.

Schneider H.M., Wojciechowski T., Postma J.A., Brown K.M., Lücke A., Zeisler V., Schreiber L., Lynch J.P. . Root cortical senescence decreases root respiration, nutrient content, and radial water and nutrient transport in barley. Plant, Cell and Environment (2017) (DOI: 10.1111/pce.12933).

Poorter, H., Fiorani, F., Pieruschka, R., Wojciechowski, T., Putten, W. H. van der, Kleyer, M., et al. . Pampered inside, pestered outside? Differences and similarities between plants growing in controlled conditions and in the field. New Phytologist (2016) (DOI: 10.1111/nph.14243).

Abhiram Das; Hannah Schneider; James Burridge; Ana Karine Martinez Ascanio; Tobias Wojciechowski; Christopher N. Topp; Jonathan P. Lynch; Joshua S. Weitz; Alexander Bucksch Digital Imaging of Root Traits (DIRT): a high-throughput computing and collaboration platform for field-based plant phenomics. Plant Methods Plant Methods (2015) 11(51)

Changzheng, X; Tai, H; Saleem, M; Ludwig, Y; Majer, C; Berendzen, K; Nagel, K; Wojciechowski, T; Meeley, R; Taramino, G; Hochholdinger, F. Cooperative action of the paralogous maize LOB domain proteins RTCS and RTCL in shoot-borne root formation. New Phytologist (2015) 207(4).

Lynch, J.P. and Wojciechowski, T. Opportunities and challenges in the subsoil: pathways to deeper rooted crops. Journal of Experimental Botany (2015), doi:10.1093/jxb/eru508

All publications

Last Modified: 23.04.2025