Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen
Biological basic research with a pioneering role
All living things change - both in the course of their lives and over generations. The Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen (until the end of 2021: Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology) is concerned with the development and evolution of animals and plants. The institute's scientists investigate how a functional organism develops from a fertilized egg cell and which genes are involved. In addition, they are analyzing the role of these developmental processes in the formation of new species as well as the evolution of proteins. To find answers to their questions, the researchers are working with so-called model organisms such as zebrafish, fruit flies, nematodes and thale cress, a relative of cabbage plants. Indeed, genes that influence development have been shown to function in a similar way in different organisms - whether flies and humans or thale cress and rice.
Departments
Director: Prof. Dr. Andrei Lupas
Proteins are essential building blocks of all living cells; indeed, life can be viewed as resulting substantially from the chemical activity of proteins. Because of their importance, it is hardly surprising that ancestors for most proteins observed today were already present at the time of the 'last common ancestor', a primordial organism from which all life on Earth is descended. How did the first proteins arise? How does their sequence of amino acids enable their chemical activity? These questions are at the center of our scientific efforts at our Department of Protein Evolution.
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Director: Dr. Yen-Ping Hsueh
The Department of Complex Biological Interaction aims to understand the cross-kingdom predator-prey interaction and co-evolution between carnivorous fungi and nematodes at various scales in time and space.
We employ integrative approaches include genetic, genomic, chemical, and biochemical analyses, cell biology, quantitative imaging and computational modelling to investigate the interactions between the nematode-trapping fungus (A. oligospora) and the oyster mushroom (
P. ostreatus) with the model nematode
Caenorhabditis elegans.
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Director: Prof. Dr. Ruth Ley
In the Department of Microbiome Science we ask fundamental questions about the evolutionary origins of the human gut microbiome and how it influences host physiology and evolution. We have the following main areas of research: evolution of the human gut microbiome and interplay with host genetics, lipids in host-microbiome symbiosis, microbiota-innate immune interactions, ecology and evolution of host-associated methanogens, and host phenotype effects of heritable microbiota.
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Director: Prof. Dr. Ralf J. Sommer
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. We focus on developmental (phenotypic) plasticity as a facilitator for the evolution of novelty, complex traits, and phenotypic divergence.
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Director: Prof. Dr. Susana Coelho
Our research focuses on the origin, evolution, and regulation of sexual systems diversity and on the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie the complex developmental patterns and reproductive features in brown algae. Brown algae have been evolving independently of animals and land plants for more than a billion years. During that time, they have become the third most developmentally complex lineage on the planet. They also exhibit a fascinating range of types of sexual life cycles and sex determination systems. This extraordinary group of eukaryotes is expected to provide fundamental insights into the processes underlying the evolution of complex multicellular life.
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Director: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Detlef Weigel
The long-term goal at our research department is to understand both the molecular mechanisms and the evolution of adaptive traits. To this end, we are using both phenotype-first and genotype-first approaches to identify genetic variants with a potential role in local, regional or global adaptation. Such studies benefit tremendously from knowledge about the genomes of other species, as well from a historical perspective that exploits ancient DNA methods to unlock the knowledge stored in herbaria. One of our lines of research, on fitness tradeoffs, is now being supported through a grant from the ERC.
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Research groups
Research Group Leader: Dr. Honour McCann
We investigate disease emergence in agricultural systems, focusing on bacterial infectious diseases caused by Pseudomonas syringae and more recently, Ralstonia solanacearum. We use population genomics and phylogeographic inference to reconstruct the direction and timing of migration events, identify outbreak origins and detect host shift or host range expansion events.
Research Group Leader: Dr. Hassan Salem
Numerous adaptations in animals are a direct consequence of symbiosis. We are interested in the evolutionary processes that shape mutually beneficial species interactions, with emphasis on why they form and how they are maintained. Among the most pervasive and streamlined symbioses found in nature are the mutualisms forged between herbivorous insects and bacteria. Research in the lab involves studying herbivore-microbe interactions across multiple biological scales to characterize the currencies that define these partnerships, and describe the developmental profiles contributing to their persistence.
