Molecular control of flowering and reproduction of plants (Immink Group)

Flowering induction marks the start of the reproduction cycle and the final reproductive success of plants strongly depends on the timing of this developmental phase transition. Plants integrate various environmental cues, such as daylength, light quality and temperature with endogenous signals to time flowering, seed set and seed germination.

But how do different plant species, such as Arabidopsis, tulip, tomato and sugar beet adapt their reproduction cycle to environmental conditions and optimize their reproductive success? To study this, we make use of sophisticated 'omics'-technologies, including ChIPseq, RNAseq, yeast n-hybrid assays, and CRISPR mutagenesis.

We aim at deciphering the molecular mode-of-action of key regulatory proteins, with special emphasis on transcription factors and chromatin modifying proteins. We have continuously BSc and MSc thesis projects available, associated to the above research questions and supervised by enthusiastic and highly motivated PhD students, post-docs or researchers.