Research

Our research

Plant terrestrialization is one of the major evolutionary events in which plants went from living exclusively in water to conquering land. All land plants evolved from streptophyte algae and this is why several land plants and streptophyte algae are currently used to study plant terrestrialization. However, there are also chlorophyte algae, a sister lineage of land plants and streptophyte algae, that can be morphologically complex and live on land. 

Our laboratory is addressing two major questions:

• Why did land plants evolve from streptophyte algae and not from chlorophyte algae? 
• What are the unique traits of streptophyte algae that allowed them to give rise to land plants?

To address these questions, we are studying developmental complexity and terrestrialization in chlorophyte algae and comparing it to developmental complexity and terrestrialization in streptophyte algae and basal land plants.

For this purpose, we are developing the morphologically complex green alga Draparnaldia as a new chlorophyte model. Draparnaldia morphologically resembles mosses and lives in the same habitats as streptophyte algae. Therefore, it provides a unique model to close this knowledge gap in plant evolution. 

Current projects

Evolution of multicellularity, Function of auxin in algae, Terrestrialization in Chlorophyte green algae, Establishment of Draparnaldia as a new model organism