Overview of Research Groups

Director

Proteins provide the chemical basis for all processes of life. We investigate their origin and the evolution of their folds and mechanisms of action by means of bioinformatics, biochemistry and structural biology. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

We are broadly interested in understanding the events that led to the emergence of these first folds and their diversification into the many functional protein families we recognize today. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

We investigate the biophysical and biochemical properties of membrane proteins, focusing on their folding, stability, and function. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

Our group concentrates on protein structure determination, with a special focus on proteins involved in transmembrane signaling. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

We focus on the development and application of bioinformatic tools to study the function of protein-based systems from an evolutionary perspective. This approach allows us to describe present-day systems in the context of the evolutionary events that shaped them, to define their unique and conserved features, and to propose testable hypotheses. more

Guest researcher, Department of Protein Evolution

Our mission is to understand and manipulate macromolecular machines and systems. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

We study structure-function relationships in proteins from an evolutionary perspective.  more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

We are interested in the molecular details that control this integration process and combine mechanistic analyses based on molecular structures with cell-based retrotransposition assays. more

Director

We employ integrative approaches including genetic, genomic, chemical, and biochemical analyses, cell biology, quantitative imaging and computational modeling to investigate the interactions between the nematode-trapping fungus (A. oligospora) and the oyster mushroom (P. ostreatus) with the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Complex Biological Interactions

We study nematode-trapping fungi (NTF) through a quantitative and mathematical lens. Our research integrates bioinformatics, image analysis, and mathematical modeling to investigate how these fungi sense, respond to, and capture their nematode prey. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Complex Biological Interactions

Our research uses the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema hermaphroditum to study host-pathogen interactions, symbiosis, and the evolution of animal biology. more

Director

The Department of Microbiome Science is broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of the human gut microbiota. We perform population-level research to probe links between human genotype and the gut microbiota, and we focus mechanistically on ways in which specific gut microbes have adapted to the human body. more

Project Leader, Department of Microbiome Science

We investigate the lipids produced by gut microbes, aiming to understand their structural diversity, biosynthetic pathways, and interactions with their mammalian hosts.  more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Microbiome Science

We are trying to establish new techniques to genetically modify non-model organisms to better understand their effects on the human gut. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Microbiome Science

While the taxonomic structure of gut microbiome in world human populations has been outlined, its subspecies-level genomic richness in the context of co-evolution with the host, particularly the variability of its extrachromosomal content, is still to be elucidated. more

Director

We link development, ecology, and population genetics in a highly integrative approach to study how novel and complex traits evolve as a result of historical processes. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology

How do processes like duplication, genomic rearrangements, and formation of novel genes shape genomes? Do these processes generate heritable differences in the phenotypes that we care about? To extend our understanding of these two questions, we combine large-scale sequencing data with statistical analysis to find the genetic basis of various traits in the nematode P. pacificus. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology

We use a biochemical approach to study phenotypically plastic traits in the nematode Pristionchus pacificus and describe the regulatory mechanisms of enzyme expression, activity and specificity that lead to multimorphic outcomes.  more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology

We study various aspects of the biology of Strongyloides spp. nematodes. This genus consists of more than 50 species, which are small-intestinal parasites of vertebrates. Among them is the human pathogen S. stercoralis. According to recent WHO estimates more than 600 million people are infected with this parasite worldwide. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology

We study nematode-insect associations with a major mission to describe nematode diversity as well as the specificity of their association with beetles. We collect specimens worldwide and focus within-species diversity studies on La Réunion island, where we have a small field station. more

Director

Brown algae have been evolving independently of animals and land plants for more than a billion years. We exploit these organisms to understand the origin, evolution and regulation of sexual systems diversity and multicellular development across eukaryotes. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Algal Development and Evolution

We are now applying our expertise in red algae, where the relevance and function of molecular processes underlying development and reproduction is poorly understood. more

Director

There is tremendous phenotypic diversity between and within species. Much of this is thought to reflect adaptation to the environment. Drawing on tools from high-throughput genomics to forward genetics, we are investigating the mechanisms responsible for adaptive variation. more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Molecular Biology

We study the spatial and temporal dynamics of virulence and resistance in a plant-oomycete pathosystem to understand how genetic heterogeneity of disease resistance evolves.  more

Departmental Group Leader, Department of Molecular Biology

The African Plant Genomics group uses a genome-centred approach to study the diversity of under-researched subsistence crops in southern Africa together with scientists based on the African continent. The insights from our research will inform the conservation and improvement of these crops. We study horned melon’s (Cucumis metuliferus) genomic and phenotypic diversity and the basis of its resistance to root-knot nematode disease. We are also examining whether an understanding of its agronomically valuable traits can be exploited for other crops. more

Max Planck Research Group Leader

Working at the interface of microbial evolution, pathogen genomics and plant microbe interactions, the overarching goal of our work is to understand how plant pathogens emerge and evolve​. more

Our research investigates why developmental processes are partly conserved and partly dynamically evolving, using sex determination—a fundamental eukaryotic process with diverse molecular foundations and strongly varying evolutionary rates across lineages. more

Emeritus Director

Our research focuses on the evolution and design principles of adaptive immune systems in vertebrates. We use a comparative approach, studying various species, from basal vertebrates to humans. more

Scientific Group Leader

We use the zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model organism to study pigment pattern formation in a vertebrate. more

Scientific Group Leader

Starting from zebrafish, we investigate the genetic basis of the diversification of color patterns in the group of Danio fish.  more

Max Planck Fellow

We are researching the recovery of carbon from wastewater and industrial waste gases using bioprocess engineering. more

Scientific Group Leader

Development of a pheno-genomic workflow to unveil the biology of environmental protists using 3D imaging combined with omics technologies, one cell at a time. more

Max Planck Research Group Leader

We investigate the evolution and capabilities of lost limb regrowth across species. Our research primarily aims to address fundamental questions that could enable human limb regeneration in the future. more

Max Planck Research Group Leader

Our group contributes to the understanding of pattern formation in biology with an interdisciplinary approach that sits at the interface of biochemistry, biophysics and synthetic (developmental) biology. more

Max Planck Research Group Leader

We study the genetic basis of phenotypic variation between individuals, and the role that those genetic effects play in the robustness and evolvability of natural populations of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. more

Max Planck Research Group Leader

Meiosis is the process by which the chromosomes from each parent are properly segregated into gametes (e.g. eggs and sperm). Our group examines the mechanisms that control this critical process in the development of new life.  more