Michael T. Raissig
Faculty of Biosciences
Heidelberg University
Michael T. Raissig studied Biology and earned his doctorate in Plant Developmental Genetics at the University of Zürich in Switzerland, where he worked on epigenetic aspects of plant embryo development (Grossniklaus group). He then joined Prof. Dominique Bergmann’s group at Stanford University (California, USA) as a postdoctoral scholar funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Life Science Research Foundation. There, he started to genetically dissect how grasses like rice, maize and wheat form their developmentally and functionally innovative stomata. His group at the Centre for Organismal Studies Heidelberg continues trying to understand why and how grasses “breathe” more efficiently using plant biotechnology, genetics, (single-cell) transcriptomics, microscopy and gas exchange physiology.
Principal Investigator
Further information
Responsibilities at home organisation
Emmy Noether Research Group Leader
Field of Expertise
- Plant development
- plant genetics
- stomatal biology
- grass biology & biotechnology
Field of Interests
- Plant developmental biology
- Plant genetics
- Evo-devo
- Stomatal biology
- Cell biology
- (single-cell) transcriptomics
- Microscopy & morphometrics
- Gas exchange physiology
- Water-use efficiency
- Cell polarity
- Cell differentiation
- Gene regulatory networks
Research interests of relevance to the project
- (single-cell) transcriptomics
- quantitative imaging and morphometrics
- gene regulatory networks
- Evolutionary genomics
Research ideas for collaboration(s)
Evolutionary developmental transcriptomics
International Experience
- University of Zürich (Switzerland)
- Stanford University (California, USA)
- Heidelberg University (Germany)
Selected publications
Nunes, T. D. G., Zhang, D. & Raissig, M. T. Form, development and
function of grass stomata. Plant J. 101, 780–799 (2020)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tpj.14552
Raissig, M. T., Matos, J. L., Gil, M. X. A., Kornfeld, A., Bettadapur, A.,
Abrash, E., et al. (2017). Mobile MUTE specifies subsidiary cells to build
physiologically improved grass stomata. Science, 355(6330), 1215–1218.
http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3254
Raissig, M. T.*, Abrash, E.*, Bettadapur, A., Vogel, J. P., & Bergmann, D. C. (2016). Grasses use an alternatively wired bHLH transcription factor network to establish stomatal identity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 113(29), 8326-8331.
http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1606728113
Lindner, H.*, Raissig, M. T.*, Sailer, C., Shimosato-Asano, H., Bruggmann, R., & Grossniklaus, U. (2012). SNP-Ratio Mapping (SRM): identifying lethal alleles and mutations in complex genetic backgrounds by next-generation sequencing. Genetics, 191(4), 1381–1386.
http://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.112.141341
Other personal interests
Plant Developmental Geneticist | Father & Husband | Traveller | Gutmensch | Vegetarian | Football Fanatic (GCZ) | Loves flowers, trees, water, mountains, science, food & drinks | Strives to be open-minded, open-access, enthusiastic, fair, inclusive, transparent, collaborative, honest, generous |
Contact details
Address:
Centre for Organismal Studies
Im Neuenheimer Feld 230, Zi. 04.013
69120 Heidelberg
Germany
Phone: +49-(0)6221 54-5628
E-Mail: michael.raissig@cos.uni-heidelberg.de
