Berlin - Germany's new agriculture and consumer affairs minister, Ilse Aigner, 43, was formally appointed Friday as part of a shake-up in Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative camp.

She received her commission from German President Horst Koehler.

Aigner was nominated by her predecessor, Horst Seehofer, who has moved to Bavaria state to become its premier and leader of the Bavaria-only party Christian Social Union (CSU).

Aigner has been a CSU member of federal parliament in Berlin since 1998.

Allied with Merkel's own CDU party, the CSU is a vital source of parliamentary votes for Merkel, and Seehofer, 59, has said he aims to put more pressure on Berlin in future to stand up for the state's interests.

Aigner's appointment was his decision, as a federal government spokesman acknowledged this week.

On Thursday, the new premier unveiled a radically rejuvenated state cabinet where no one is older than 60.

Seehofer also appointed a new party general secretary, Karl- Theodor zu Guttenberg, 36, to run the CSU day to day in the state capital Munich.

Guttenberg, who has been a federal CSU deputy and has specialized in foreign-policy issues, said in a TV interview Friday he would renew conservatism in the state, where the CSU lost a 46-year absolute majority last month at a state election.

With just 43 per cent of the vote, it was obliged to adopt the small Free Democrat Party (FDP) as a coalition partner in Munich. (dpa)