Research

We research plant germlines and stem cells, fertilization mechanisms, early seed development as well as reproduction during environmental stress.?

The Dresselhaus lab researches in particular the fertilization mechanisms as well as germline and stem cell as well as early seed development in the model systems maize and Arabidopsis. An important research focus is on peptide signal transduction pathways, polar cell growth, RNA stability and the investigation of gene regulatory networks and their evolution. To this end, genetically modified maize plants are regularly produced in the laboratory. Other expertise in the lab is, for example, single cell handling as well as the application of various fluorescent imaging techniques. The effects of environmental stress condtions on reproduction and seed development, in particular heat stress and fungal infections, have been newer topics in the laboratory.

Research in the Dresslhaus lab is currently funded among others by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Crops of the Future (FFAR).