Research
The Evolution of Plant Signaling Lab is focused on molecular evolution within land plants. Our two main research directions are the Evolution of Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions (EvoMPMI), and the molecular evolution of receptor kinases and their signaling pathways regulating plant immunity and development. We are combining phylogenetic analyses in available plant genomes with functional studies (genetics, omics, pathoassays, biochemistry...) in diverse model organisms (notably Marchantia polymorpha) to unravel the molecular evolution of distinct signaling pathways that regulate plant immunity and development in land plants. Comparative experiments between the eudicot Arabidopsis thaliana and other vascular plants, bryophytes, and algae allow us to reconstruct the molecular and functional evolution of distinct signaling pathways in the green lineage.
