Evolution of Plant Signaling Lab

Prof. Dr. Isabel Monte, Junior Professor (W1 tenure-track)
isabel.montespam prevention@zmbp.uni-tuebingen.de
Phone: +49 7071 29 73222

Isabel studied Pharmacy and Biochemistry at the University of Salamanca (Spain) and did her Master in Biotechnology at the University Autonoma de Madrid (Spain). In 2011 she joined Prof. Roberto Solano’s lab (CNB-CSIC, Madrid) for her master thesis, PhD, and a short postdoc, where she investigated the evolution of jasmonate biosynthesis and signaling in land plants. In 2013, she started to work with her favorite plant, the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, through a collaboration with Prof. Takayuki Kohchi (University of Kyoto, Japan). In 2019 she moved to Prof. Cyril Zipfel’s lab (University of Zürich, Switzerland) as a postdoc to study plant immunity in M. polymorpha. In 2022 she started the Evolution of Plant Signaling Lab at the ZMBP (University of Tübingen, Germany) as Junior Group Leader. Since 2023, she is Junior Professor (W1, tenure-track) at the Department of Plant Physiology (ZMBP, University of Tübingen, Germany).

Twitter: @Isabel_MonteG
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Ulrike Herzog (former Hiller), Technician
ulrike.herzogspam prevention@zmbp.uni-tuebingen.de
Phone: +49 7071 29 73205

Uli had her occupational training to become a BTA (biological technical assistant) in Überlingen at the Lake of Constance (Germany). In 1994 she started working in cardiology research in the Medical Clinic of the University of Tübingen. In 1997 she switched to plant research and worked for Prof. Gerd Jürgens, who was later a co-founder of the ZMBP. From 2020 to 2022 she worked for Dr. Katharina Markmann. Since March 2022 she works with Isabel.
She likes hiking with geocaching, reading, playing volleyball and making candles.

Francisco Gordillo Cantón, PhD student
francisco.gordillospam prevention@zmbp.uni-tuebingen.de

Phone: +49 7071 29 73205

Fran studied Biochemistry at the University of Sevilla (Spain). During this time he discovered how fascinating plants are, which sparked his interest in plant molecular biology. He then studied a Master in Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology at the University of Sevilla. In September 2022, Fran started his PhD at the ZMBP, where he focuses on understanding how LRR-RKs signaling pathways related to development and immunity evolved in land plants. Fran’s PhD is funded by the SFB/CRC1101.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FranGordilloC

Adrián Vojtaššák, PhD student
adrian.vojtassakspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de
Phone: +49 7071 29 73205

Adrián studied Biology at the University of Tübingen, while working as a student helper at Prof. Gerd Jürgens Lab and developing his passion for plant research. He continued to do his masters at ZMBP and ended up investigating the evolution of plant-fungus interactions in non-seed plants. He joined our lab in October 2023 to investigate plant-fungus interactions. When not in the lab, he can be found rock climbing or tinkering with his bicycle.

Chia-Nan Tao, Postdoc
chia-nan.taospam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de
Phone: +49 7071 29 73205

Chia-Nan completed her undergraduate studies at National Taiwan University, where she did an internship with Dr. Laurent Zimmerli and was introduced to the world of plant immunity and induced resistance. Captivated by the plant immune system and its potential applications in crop protection, she pursued a Master's degree at the University of Queensland, Australia, in 2014. During her master study, she researched the role of heterotrimeric G proteins in plant immunity in the lab of Professor Jimmy Botella. In 2019, she joined Professor Jurriaan Ton’s group at the University of Sheffield, UK where she worked on the signaling pathways controlling induced resistance by beta-amino acids. She joined our group in April 2024 to investigate the evolution of receptor-like kinase in land plants.

Sara Guerrero, PostDoc
sara.guerrerospam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de
Phone: +49 7071 29 73205

Sara studied Biology and earned a master’s in plant biotechnology at the University of Oviedo, Spain. During her PhD with Prof. Mónica Meijón, she investigated natural variation and evolution of plant responses to climate change in Arabidopsis and Marchantia from a systems biology perspective (but she also contributed to exciting studies on overlooked non-model species like pines!). An internship in Dr. Frédéric Berger's lab at the GMI (Vienna, Austria) further deepened her passion for plant evolution. She joined our lab in February 2025 as a postdoc to explore the evolution of SOBIR1 in land plants.                                                                                                                               Outside the lab, she enjoys solving escape rooms, spending time with her cat, and writing about the worlds she envisions.

Raphael Schaal, Master student

Raphael studied Biochemistry at the University of Tübingen. He joined the lab in November 2023 to do an Advanced Module as a ZMBP Master student. Since January 2024, he is working as a student helper (HiWi) to implement CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene-editing in Marchantia. Outside the lab, Raphael likes to go hiking, handball and playing computer games.

Lucía Guerrero García, Student helper (HiWi)

Lucía studied Biology at the National University of Colombia and is now studying her Master in Bioinformatics at the University of Tübingen (Germany). Following her passion for bioinformatics and plant genomes and her interest in the wet lab, Lucía joined our lab as student helper (HiWi) in August 2023. She is performing phylogenetic analyses on receptor kinases and generating CRISPR mutants in Marchantia to support Fran’s PhD project.

Letitia Volk, Bachelor student

Kalina Stefanova, Bachelor student