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There are only a few signalling pathways that have been as well conserved during evolution as the Notch signalling pathway. This is due to the pathways unique biological function. Notch enables two identical cells to develop into completely different tissues. Anette Preiß professor at the University of Hohenheim has been working on the function of the Notch signalling pathway for almost 20 years.

A large international group of researchers including researchers from the University of Constance has succeeded in sequencing the genome of a marine alga. Microalgae which belong to the phytoplankton are the basis of the marine food chain.

Prof. Dr. Michael Reth is active in the field of immunology and signalling. He is an experienced scientist who is well aware of the difficulty and the cumbersome nature of deciphering signals and signalling pathways. The Freiburg bioss excellence cluster - the Centre of Biological Signalling Studies - is Reths brainchild. Karin Bundschuh from BioRegio Freiburg spoke with the scientist who works at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and the…

Microbial cells long gave researchers the impression that they were in a state of complete disorder. Prof. Dr. Peter Graumann from the University of Freiburg investigates cell division in bacteria and knows that even microbes are highly organised.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology together with American colleagues have decoded the genome of the Pristionchus pacificus nematode. It consists of a large number of genes. The scientists gain insight into the evolution of parasitism.

More than 50 of recombinant proteins are altered while they are being synthesized in the cells sometimes once and sometimes several times. Experts call these alterations post-translational modifications.

Gerrit Begemann and Axel Meyers research groups at the University of Constance have found out how the sword shape of swordtails develops. Transplants of single sword rays to the dorsal caudal fin of a male fish induce an additional sword.

Mobile DNA elements are able to change their position in the genome and mobilise entire gene groups as well as switch genes on and off. Professor Bodo Rak and his team at the University of Freiburg are investigating the effect of mobile DNA fragments on the evolution of E. coli bacteria.

Article - 01/06/2008

Plants as soil remediators

Max Planck scientists and researchers at the University of Heidelberg have discovered a gene that enables certain plants to grow on soils with high heavy metal concentrations and that even contributes to the soils remediation. The gene product is a transport protein in the cell membrane.

Immune cells sometimes kick over the traces. This could lead to allergic reactions. At the Freiburg Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology a group of researchers led by Professor Michael Huber is investigating the mechanisms that can prevent this from happening.

The paper by Lohmueller et al. 2008 shows that there is proportionally more deleterious genetic variation in European than in African populations. This revelation enables conclusions to be made on the group that emigrated from Africa several thousand years ago.

Article - 25/02/2008

How crustaceans help bridge the gaps of knowledge in early evolution

The team of researchers led by Dieter Waloßek zoologist at Ulm University is working on the organisation of knowledge in their discipline. The taxonomists are documenting living creatures in particular arthropods which also includes issues of evolution. Only recently Waloßek along with Andreas Maas and their foreign colleagues have hit the headlines.

The basic classification of bilateral animals is based on the comparison of their embryonic development and was confirmed in modern molecular phylogeny by the analysis of the relationship of the genes involved. Conserved groups of genes are responsible for the formation of the body axes.

Article - 21/02/2008

The females choose their mates

The team of researchers led by evolutionary biologist Dr. Gerrit Begemann at Constance University is using swordtails to investigate the development of traits that evolved by sexual selection. Their major focus is the molecular mechanism of growth control in the caudal fin. Or put more simply why do these fish have swords?

Article - 20/02/2008

Threadworms throughout time

Threadworms are versatile research objects and are excellent models for investigating fundamental evolutionary principles. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology use the Caenorhabditis and Pristionchus threadworm genera to study the molecular mechanisms of biodiversity.

Article - 29/01/2008

Breakthrough for glycomics

New databases and bioinformatic tools provide the field of glycomics with a solid basis for dynamic development in molecular biology and medicine. Willi von der Lieth a researcher from Heidelberg was an important pioneer of glyco-bioinformatics. His sudden death is a great loss for this new scientific field.