Heredity is more than the sum of all genes

MPI-MP | Since February 1, 2021, the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology has had a new director, Prof. Dr. Claudia Köhler. She will establish and head the Department of Reproductive Biology and Epigenetics at the Institute.

The Institute is very pleased that it has succeeded in appointing Prof. Köhler, an outstanding scientist in the field of epigenetics in plants. It will introduce a new research area at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology and expand and complement the research portfolio of the MPI of Molecular Plant Physiology.

As we have known for some time, humans, animals and plants are not only the sum of their genes, but epigenetic effects also play an important role in heredity. Epigenetics is a research discipline that has developed rapidly in recent years and has become very important. It deals with changes in gene activity that are not based on a change in the DNA sequence, but are triggered by other mechanisms. This is usually based on chemical changes to the basic building blocks of genetic material or proteins that bind to DNA. Many cellular regulation and differentiation processes are controlled by epigenetic mechanisms. For example, they play an important role in seed formation.

Ms. Köhler’s department will deal with precisely those epigenetic and genetic processes that regulate seed formation in flowering plants. Although the seeds and the nutrient tissue they contain, the endosperm, are an important part of our diet, relatively little is known about the molecular and (epi)genetic mechanisms of seed formation and thus about the basis of yield. In her research to date, Prof. Köhler has already succeeded in developing and establishing a whole series of methods and materials that will make it possible to answer long-standing questions in seed biology. A better understanding of the molecular processes that control seed formation and development is of fundamental interest and will provide important insights into plant yield formation for agriculture.

Prof. Köhler will perform her duties at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology on a part-time basis until July 31, 2021, as she is currently still working at the University of Agriculture in Uppsala.

Claudia Köhler studied biology at the University of Halle, received her doctorate from the University of Freiburg in 1999 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich before becoming an assistant professor at ETH Zurich in 2005. Since 2010, she has been a full professor at the Swedish University of Agriculture in Uppsala.

She is an elected member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina.

MPI-MP-Pressemitteilung vom 11.02.2021

MPI-MP Abt. Reproduktionsbiologie und Epigenetik, Prof. Dr. Claudia Köhler