Overview

The department focuses on two aspects of development: its mechanistic foundation, which is being studied in the reference organisms Arabidopsis thaliana and Drosophila melanogaster; and the genetic and genomic basis of naturally occurring variation, which is being investigated in A. thaliana and relatives, as well as the guppy, Poecilia reticulata.

Genetic networks controlling different aspects of plant development, such as flowering, stem cells and growth, are being dissected in the groups of Jan Lohmann, Markus Schmid and Detlef Weigel. Although the processes being studied are quite diverse, there is considerable overlap and synergy in the methods employed, with an emphasis on transgenic approaches as well as use of microarrays and ultra-high throughput sequencing-by-synthesis for whole-genome analyses. Conceptually related is the work in the group of Ingrid Lohmann, who is studying effectors of Drosophila HOX proteins.

A major focus of the Weigel group is genetic diversity, which is being studied on several different levels. In addition to forward genetic analyses of wild A. thaliana strains, we are examining sequence diversity on a whole-genome scale. Because population-genetic inferences benefit tremendously from outgroup sequences, we have assembled a consortium that successfully applied to have the genomes of two A. thaliana relatives, those of A. lyrata and Capsella rubella, sequenced.

A corollary of genetic variation is that populations at some point diverge so much that they become reproductively isolated. Despite considerable interest in the mechanisms underlying gene-flow barriers that lead to speciation, few general patterns have emerged. The Weigel group has therefore decided to investigate in detail hybrid necrosis, a commonly occurring barrier to gene flow in and between many different plant species.

Finally, we would like to extend our findings to animals. Unfortunately, the ecology of traditional models for genetic studies such as Drosophila or C. elegans is only poorly understood. The group of Christine Dreyer, in collaboration with Detlef Weigel, has therefore begun to move a classical model of ecological genetics, the guppy, into the modern genomics era.

For additional information, please follow the links on the left to the individual projects.

If you are interested in joining the department as a PhD student, please visit the corresponding webpage.