Research Groups
How complex animal body plans could arise in evolution is one of the fundamental questions in biology. We address this question by investigating the underlying genomic, molecular and developmental processes that led to the diversification of animal body plans. We use cnidarians (jellyfish, corals and anemones) as model organisms to understand the evolution of key bilaterian features: bilaterality, central nervous systems and three germ layers. Read more...
In the Zimmer lab, we are interested in how neural network dynamics in the brain represent sensory information and perform computations to generate decisions and subsequent behaviors. Moreover, we aim to explain fundamental properties of neuronal circuits, for example the need to sleep. These are key problems in neuroscience, each of which have alone challenged worldwide communities of experts for decades. We, however, propose that a holistic approach should be undertaken to understand these functions in their full context. Read more
All animals rely on selective information from the external world received by highly specialized sensory neurons. Research at the Department of Neurobiology is dedicated to the understanding of the Sensory System development and function using various arthropod model organisms.
In a molecular-genetic approach we are studying the developmental control mechanisms underlying the formation of the Drosophila visual and olfactory system
I am interested in understanding how molecular mechanisms regulating animal body axes evolved. To find this out, I am using an excellent experimental model, the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. It belongs to Cnidaria, a phylum consisting of morphologically simply organized diploblastic organisms, which occupies a crucial phylogenetic position as a sister group to all Bilateria Read more...
Stem cells, early animal evolution and deep-sea sponge ecology
Our lab is interested in unravelling and understanding the gene regulatory networks that control stem cell functions in sponges. Our work mainly capitalizes on the establishment of a novel sponge regeneration system, which allows us to interrogate stem cell self-renewal and differentiation processes. We are implementing a number of single-cell transcriptomic and genomic techniques, as well as advanced computational methods, to infer gene regulatory interactions. Our research addresses fundamental questions in three main areas: Read more...
We study major transitions in metazoan evolution from the perspective of the underlying genomic changes. Over the past years, we have contributed to the broader sampling of metazoan genomes, revealing ancestral metazoan and bilaterian genomic architectures and their diversification patterns. While we can trace back many gene families to the ancient metazoan ancestor, we also find many of them linked at both micro- (local gene cluster) and macro-syntenic (chromosomal) levels. The functional significance of most of those linkages during development is unknown. Having a broad phylogenetic focus we aim to (1) characterize and expand our knowledge of conserved and novel gene linkages and their associated (non-coding) elements across metazoans, (2) study their evolutionary dynamics through comparative genomics and modeling approaches, and (3) establishing molecular tools for investigating their role during development and clade-specific innovation. Read more