Ralf J. Sommer

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Ralf Josef Sommer (* 1963 ) is a German biologist who has specialized in the research areas of developmental genetics and evolutionary biology .

Life

Sommer studied at the RWTH Aachen , the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich , where he graduated in 1989. In 1992 he received his doctorate in Diethard Tautz's laboratory on the subject of the evolution of segmentation genes in insects. His work was one of the first molecular studies in the field of evolutionary developmental biology, also known as " Evo-Devo " for short , a discipline that experienced an upswing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From 1993 to 1995 he was a Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, USA with Paul W. Sternberg. Since 1999, Sommer has been director of the evolutionary biology department at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen and in 2002 was awarded an honorary professorship at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. He is the recipient of the FALCON Prize of the German Society for Cell Biology . In 2015 he was elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization .

science

Ralf Sommer conducts research in the field of evolutionary developmental biology with nematodes . He established the species Pristionchus pacificus as a model system for integrative studies in evolutionary biology.

P. pacificus , which Sommer and his colleagues described as a new species in 1996, has since developed into an important model organism with which laboratory studies and field research can be combined in order to understand the processes and mechanisms of evolution. The latter enables ecological and population genetic studies that complement and deepen the genetic and developmental research approach.

Sommer's original research related to evolution in developmental processes and showed that homologous structures can be generated with different molecular mechanisms. This phenomenon is known today as "Developmental Systems Drift". Sommer's recent publications describe many more areas of evolutionary biology. The nematode P. pacificus lives on scarab beetles - an observation that represents the ecological basis and a cornerstone of Sommer's current research. Similarly, the population genetic basis for research with P. pacificus was created. The island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean became an important base for Sommer's research projects, as P. pacificus on La Réunion has an extraordinary genetic diversity. A research station at the insectarium in Le Port supports the field research of his work group. The integrative research program on P. pacificus represents a significant paradigm shift for the studies of phenotypic evolution, in that the same patterns and processes can be examined simultaneously in an organism from different evolutionary perspectives. The latest studies deal with the evolution of novelties and the phenotypic plasticity , which plays a decisive role as an amplifier in the development of biological diversity .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d R. J. Sommer: The future of evo-devo: model systems and evolutionary theory . In: Nature Reviews Genetics . 10, 2009, pp. 416-422. doi : 10.1038 / nrg2567 .
  2. ↑ a b C. Dieterich, Clifton, SW; Schuster, LN; Chinwalla, A .; Delehaunty, K .; Dinkelacker, I .; Fulton, L .; Fulton, R .; Godfrey, J .; Minx, P .; Mitreva, M .; Roeseler, W .; Tian, ​​H .; Witte, H .; Yang, SP; Wilson; RK & Sommer, RJ: The Pristionchus pacificus genome provides a unique perspective on nematode lifestyle and parasitism . In: Nature Genetics . 40, 2008, pp. 1193-1198. doi : 10.1038 / ng.227 .
  3. ↑ a b G. Bento, Ogawa, A. & Sommer, RJ: Co-option of the hormone-signaling module dafachronic acid-DAF-12 in nematode evolution . In: Nature . 466, 2010, pp. 494-497. doi : 10.1038 / nature09164 .
  4. ↑ A. Eizinger, Sommer, RJ: The homeotic gene lin-39 and the evolution of nematode epidermal cell fates . In: Science . 278, 1997, pp. 452-455. doi : 10.1126 / science.278.5337.452 .
  5. ↑ X. Wang, Sommer, RJ: Antagonism of LIN-17 / Frizzled and LIN-18 / Ryk in nematode vulva induction reveals evolutionary alterations in core developmental pathways . In: PLoS Biology . 9, 2011, p. E1001110. doi : 10.1371 / journal.pbio.1001110 .
  6. ↑ M. Zheng, Messerschmidt, D .; Jungblut, B. & Sommer, RJ: Conservation and diversification of Wnt signaling function during the evolution of nematode vulva development . In: Nature Genetics . 37, 2005, pp. 300-304. doi : 10.1038 / ng1512 .
  7. ↑ a b M. Herrmann, Mayer, W .; Hong, R .; Kienle, S .; Minasaki, R. & Sommer, RJ: The nematode Pristionchus pacificus (Nematoda: Diplogastridae) is associated with the Oriental beetle Exomala orientalis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Japan . In: Zoological Science . 24, 2007, pp. 883-889. doi : 10.2108 / zsj.24.883 .
  8. ↑ a b K. Morgan, McGaughran, A .; Witte, H .; Bartelmes, G .; Villate, L .; Herrmann, M .; Rochat, J. & Sommer, RJ: Multi-locus analysis of Pristionchus pacificus on La Réunion Island reveals an evolutionary history shaped by multiple introductions, constrained dispersal events, and rare out-crossing . In: Molecular Ecology . 21, 2012, pp. 250-266. doi : 10.1111 / j.1365-294x.2011.05382.x .
  9. ^ EJ Ragsdale, Müller, M .; Rödelsperger, C & Sommer, RJ: A developmental switch coupled to the evolution of plasticity acts through a sulfatase . In: Cell . 155, 2013, pp. 922-933. doi : 10.1016 / j.cell.2013.09.054 .
  10. ↑ DJ Bumbarger, Riebesell, M .; Rödelsperger, C. & Sommer, RJ: System-wide rewiring underlies behavioral differences in predatory and bacterial-feeding nematodes . In: Cell . 152, 2013, pp. 109-119. doi : 10.1016 / j.cell.2012.12.013 .

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personal data
SURNAME Sommer, Ralf J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Summer, Ralf Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German biologist
DATE OF BIRTH 1963