Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics

The Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics (CMPG) is part of the Science, Engineering and Technology Group at KU Leuven and is composed of eight  research groups active in the area of molecular biology.

Research focuses on fundamental aspects of (micro)biology and their biotechnological applications. We are active in diverse fields including microbial evolution and ecology, beneficial and pathogenic microbe-host interactions, antimicrobials, probiotics, biofilms, fermentation and biofuels, plant protection and embryogenesis. We use a variety of model systems of bacteria, yeast, human cells, plant, mouse, worm and insect and combine scientific approaches from the fields of molecular biology, genetics, genomics, synthetic biology, systems biology and mathematical modeling.

Members of our academic staff take part in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students with lectures and practical courses in biochemistry, bioinformatics, biotechnology, cell biology, genetics, physiology, plant protection and statistics.

The Laboratory for Process Microbial Ecology and Bioinspirational Management (PME&BIM), joined the Centre in October 2020.