Department 6 Molecular Biology

Director: Dr. Detlef Weigel

Secretary: Hülya Wicher
Phone: +49 (0)7071 - 601-1411
Fax: +49 (0)7071 - 601-1412

Staff: Alphabetical List

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Introduction:
A long-term goal of the department is to understand the mechanisms underlying variation in adaptive traits. As a prerequisite, the genes that are used by wild plants and animals to create phenotypic diversity need to be defined. By integrating a mechanistic understanding of genetic networks with an understanding of the adaptive significance of trait variation, it should be possible to identify functionally divergent alleles in natural populations. This knowledge can be used to understand the genetic mechanisms underlying adaptive change, and to predict the performance of natural populations under changing environmental conditions.

Research Groups:

D. Weigel (Natural Variation)

D. Weigel (MicroRNAs)

K. Borgwardt

C. Dreyer

M. Schmid

Selected Publications:

Becker, C., Hagmann, J., Müller, J., Koenig, D., Stegle, O., Borgwardt, K., and Weigel, D. (2011) Spontaneous epigenetic variation in the methylome of Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature, published online September 20.

Bomblies, K., Lempe, J., Epple, P., Warthmann, N., Lanz, C., Dangl, J. L., and Weigel, D. (2007) Autoimmune response as a mechanism for a Dobzhansky-Muller-type incompatibility syndrome in plants. PLoS Biology 5, e236.

Cao, J., Schneeberger, K., Ossowski, S., Günther, T., Bender, S., Fitz, J., Koenig, D., Lanz, C., Stegle, O., Lippert, C., Wang, X., Ott, F., Müller, J., Alonso-Blanco, C., Borgwardt, K., Schmid, K. J., and Weigel, D. (2011) Whole-genome sequencing of multiple Arabidopsis thaliana populations. Nature Genetics 43, 956-963.

Clark, R. M., Schweikert, G., Ossowski, S., Zeller, G., Shinn, P., Rätsch, G., Warthmann, N., Fu, G., Hinds, D., Chen, H.-M., Frazer, K., Toomajian, C., Hu, T. T., Huson, D. H., Schölkopf, B., Nordborg, M., Ecker, J. R., and Weigel, D. (2007) Common sequence polymorphisms shaping genetic diversity in Arabidopsis thaliana. Science 317, 338-342.

Ossowski, S., Schneeberger, K., Lucas-Lledó, J. I., Warthmann, N., Clark, R. M., Shaw, R. G., Weigel, D., and Lynch, M. (2010) The rate and molecular spectrum of spontaneous mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana. Science 327, 92-94.

Sureshkumar, S., Todesco, M., Schneeberger, K., Harilal, R., Balasubramanian, S., and Weigel, D. (2009) A genetic defect caused by a triplet repeat expansion in Arabidopsis thaliana. Science 323, 1060-1063.

Todesco, M., Balasubramanian, S., Hu, T. T., Traw, B. M., Horton, M., Epple, P., Kuhns, C., Sureshkumar, S., Schwartz, C., Lanz, C., Laitinen, R. A. E., Chory, J., Lipka, V., Borevitz, J. O., Dangl, J. L., Bergelson, J., Nordborg, M., and Weigel, D. (2010) Natural allelic variation underlying a major fitness tradeoff in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature 465, 632-636.

Wang, J.-W., Czech, B., and Weigel, D. (2009) miR156-regulated SPL transcription factors define an endogenous flowering pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. Cell 138, 738-749.

Wigge, P. A., Kim, M. C., Jaeger, K. E., Busch, W., Schmid, M., Lohmann, J. U., and Weigel, D. (2005) Integration of spatial and temporal information during floral induction in Arabidopsis. Science 309, 1056-1059.