Katharina Wolff

Experience in molecular biotechnology and unraveling plant biosynthesis pathways.

Research overview

My research focuses on the dark pigmentation in plants, which has often been associated with the strong expression of multiple genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis. My research combines plant genomics and transcriptomics to identify and characterize the key genes controlling anthocyanin accumulation across different plant species. We then leverage synthetic biology to reconstruct this biosynthetic pathway in yeast, engineering a microbial cell factory capable of producing anthocyanins. This integrated approach connects fundamental plant biology with biotechnological applications for sustainable pigment production.

Qualifications

April 2025 - Present: Doctoral student (continued), University of Bonn
2023 - 2025: Doctoral student, TU Braunschweig
2022 – 2023: Lecturer, TU Braunschweig
2019 - 2022: Master of Science in Molecular Biotechnology, Bielefeld University
2015 - 2019: Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biotechnology, Bielefeld University

Publications

Wolff K., de Oliveira J. A. V. S., Fürstenberg L., Hagedorn M., Garz B., Borchert M., Pucker B. (2026). Genome sequence of the medicinal plant Urtica dioica reveals the genetic basis of the flavonoid metabolism. bioRxiv 2026.05.15.725508; doi: 10.64898/2026.05.15.725508.
Wolff K., Nowak M. S., Thoben C., Beuerle T., Pucker B. (2026). Rubus armeniacus genome sequence reveals the secrets of blackberry anthocyanin biosynthesis. bioRxiv 2026.05.05.723051; doi: 10.64898/2026.05.05.723051.
Horz J. M., Wolff K., Friedhoff R., Pucker B. (2026). Genome sequence of the ornamental plant Digitalis purpurea reveals the molecular basis of flower color and morphology variation. BMC Genomics; doi: 10.1186/s12864-026-12889-3.
de Oliveira J.A.V.S., Ng V., Wolff K., Pucker B. (2026). NanoPlasmiQC: Full plasmid sequencing with ONT long-reads and automatic data analysis. bioRxiv 2026.04.01.715842; doi: 10.64898/2026.04.01.715842.
de Oliveira J.A.V.S., Friedhoff R., Wolff K., Pucker B. (2026). Genome sequence of the ornamental plant Aquilegia vulgaris reveals the flavonoid biosynthesis gene repertoire. bioRxiv 2024.12.16.628782; doi: 10.1101/2024.12.16.628782.
Wolff, K.; Pucker, B. (2025). Dark side of anthocyanin pigmentation. Plant Biol J. doi: 10.1111/plb.70047.
Nowak M. S.*, Harder B.*, Meckoni S. N.*, Friedhoff R., Wolff K., Pucker B. (2025). Genome sequence and RNA-seq analysis reveal genetic basis of flower coloration in the giant water lily Victoria cruziana. bioRxiv 2024.06.15.599162; doi: 10.1101/2024.06.15.599162.
Marin Recinos M. F., Winnier S., Lagerhausen K., Ajayi B., Wolff K., Friedhoff R., Dassow C. M., Choudhary N., Pucker B. (2024). Cacao genome sequence reveals insights into the flavonoid biosynthesis. bioRxiv 2024.11.23.624982; doi: 10.1101/2024.11.23.624982.
Wolff, K.; Friedhoff, R.; Schwarzer, F.; Pucker, B. (2023). Data Literacy in Genome Research. Journal of Integrative Bioinformatics, 2023, pp. 20230033. doi: 10.1515/jib-2023-0033.