Jinyi Zhu

Dr. Jinyi Zhu is a Researcher at the Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Cologne, investigating plant-microbe interfaces with emphasis on fungal effector biology and soil microbiome dynamics.

Her research spans Plant Biology, Microbial Ecology, and Fungal Genetics, focusing on antimicrobial effectors from soil-borne fungi like Verticillium dahliae. She examines how these effectors shape microbial communities, drive edaphic adaptation, and influence plant performance through metabolomics and data science integration.

Currently leading a project to identify and characterize soil-specific antimicrobial effectors, her work contributes to CEPLAS research themes including Plant Microbiota Metabolic Networks and Theoretical Plant Biology. She utilizes the Plant Metabolism and Metabolomics Facility and Imaging Platform at the University of Cologne.