dr. M (Marian) Bemer
Biography
The Role of Transcription Factors in Flowering Plant Evolution
In my group, we study the function of genes in angiosperm development and try to understand how all the diversity in flowering and fruit features has evolved. Being molecular biologists, we aim to discover how changes (mutations) in the DNA can result in changes in plant development, eventually leading to divergence and speciation. Because genes that encode transcription factors are key regulators of developmental processes, we focus on the role of transcription factors in the evolution of flowering plant development.
The gene regulatory networks that control the different aspects of development have been largely unravelled for the model species Arabidopsis, but to what extent these can be translated to more distantly related species, such as the crops oilseed rape, cucumber and tomato is still largely unclear. We perform comparative research to gain insight in the conservation/divergence of gene regulatory networks involved in the regulation of flowering time, inflorescence development and fruit development in different plant species.
Additionally, we take a more mechanistic approach to find out how sequence polymorphisms can lead to divergence in protein function or gene expression. This results in very precise information about the functioning of key regulators of reproductive traits, enabling uncoupling of functions (see Thoris et al., 2025). We are currently focusing on the evolution of MADS-domain transcription factors in the regulation of flowering time and fruit development, and we have made much progress in understanding their role in tomato flowering (e.g. see Jiang et al., 2025).
Current group members:
Fatemeh Aflaki (Postdoc), Dirk-Jan van Workum (Postdoc, shared with Charlotte Gommers), Kailash Pandey (PhD student), Indira Sanchez-Bretones (PhD student), Stan Kronenberg (PhD student), Isabella Sanders (PhD student, shared with Richard Immink), Lotte Zuurveen (PhD student, shared with Ruud de Maagd/Richard Immink), Marco Busscher, Michiel Schrijen, Jacqueline Busscher (part-time technicians).
Associated: Cristian Pena Ponton (Postdoc), Qiqi Li (PhD student, group Richard Immink), Wenyan Zhang (PhD student, group Luisa Trindade).
Past: Kai Thoris (PhD/Postdoc), Iris Zahn (PhD), Xiaobing Jiang (PhD/Postdoc), Annemarie Castricum (PhD), Chris Roelofsen (technician).