Lab Niessen

People in the Niessen lab work on reseach projects in the area of food and indoor mycology.

The focus of our research is on dissemination of mycotoxin producing filamentous fungi of genera Fusarium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus in raw materials used in the food and beverage industry as well as on the investigation of their influence on product quality.

We are specialised in the development of isothermal molecular biological assays (LAMP) which we apply in the diagnosis of those food- and airborne filamentous fungi and yeasts that have a major impact on the quality of food and beverages. Moreover, we develop such assays for the diagnosis of bacterial fruit tree pathogens and emerging fungal wildlife diseases such as White Nose Syndrome in bats (Pseudogymnoascus destructans), salamander decline (Batrachyochytrium salamandrovorans) or aspergillosis of sea fan corrals (Aspergillus sydowii). Another area of research is the involvement of filamentous fungi and their proteins in overfoaming (gushing) of carbonated beverages, e.g. beer and sparkling wine.

Aktuelles Projekt: Projekträger Jülich, FKZ 031B0845C „Molekularer Nachweis wirtschaftlich relevanter Pflanzenpathogene auf einem universellen Lab-on-a-Chip-System mittels Mediator Displacement-LAMP (iRotation)“