Tobias Warnecke

Evolution of Molecular Systems

Eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea all regulate access to the information that is encoded in their genomes. If they didn’t, things would get messy very quickly, as genes would be expressed in the wrong place or at the wrong time. How do different organisms control genome access in an adaptive manner? Do prokaryotes and eukaryotes use fundamentally different strategies? What – if anything – makes complex eukaryotic genome regulation unique and how did it evolve from presumably simpler beginnings? Can we build chromatin using different components than those found in a given organism? For example, can we build eukaryotic chromatin without histones? And can we evolved cells that do without chromatin altogether?

To answer these questions (and many more), we study the evolution of chromatin from a comparative perspective, with a particular focus on less-studied organisms such as archaea, many of which also use histones as major chromatin building blocks, and non-model bacteria. In the lab, we combine a variety of computational and experimental techniques, including phylogenomics, comparative functional genomics, genetics, microbiology, in vitro biochemistry, and synthetic biology.

We strive to create an environment that enables open, curiosity-driven science, where cross-disciplinary work, especially combining computational and experimental approaches, is actively encouraged.