Henrik Kaessmann
ZMBH Research Group Leader
ZMBH
Im Neuenheimer Feld 282
69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Tel. +49 (0) 6221 - 545854
h.kaessmann@zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de
Welcome to the Kaessmann lab!
Our lab has been interested in a range of topics related to the origins and evolution of organs in mammals and other vertebrates as well as the various underlying genomic/molecular changes. In the framework of our research, we have generated and analyzed comprehensive genomics (e.g., RNA-seq) datasets based on samples from our large organ collections. We have thus illuminated the origins and functional evolution of protein-coding genes, alternative splicing, long noncoding RNAs, microRNAs, and sex chromosomes across organs and species, as well as associated phenotypic implications. More recently, we have begun to bring the work of our lab to the level of individual cells using state-of-the-art single-cell genomics technologies and bioinformatics procedures. In a major set of new projects, we seek to scrutinize the origins and evolution of the vertebrate brain and its constituent tissues and cell types based on samples from representatives of all major vertebrate lineages, ranging from jawless vertebrates (e.g., the sea lamprey) to mammals (e.g., platypus and human). In other current projects, we investigate the evolution and development of gonads, liver and intestine (dietary adaptations), and the placenta across representative mammals.
Selected publications Original papers Sepp, M., Leiss, K., Murat, F., Okonechnikov, K., Joshi, P., Leushkin, E., Spänig, L., Mbengue, N., Schneider, C., Schmidt, J., Trost, N., Schauer, M., Khaitovich, P., Lisgo, S., Palkovits, M., Giere, P., Kutscher, L. M., Anders, S., Cardoso-Moreira, M., Sarropoulos, I., Pfister, S. M., and Kaessmann, H. (2023) Cellular development and evolution of the mammalian cerebellum. Nature 625:788-796. URL Rodríguez-Montes, L., Ovchinnikova, S., Yuan, X., Studer, T., Sarropoulos, I., Anders, S., Kaessmann, H.*, and Cardoso-Moreira, M.* (2023) Sex-biased gene expression across mammalian organ development and evolution. Science 382:6670. *joint senior author. URL Lamanna, F., Hervas-Sotomayor, F, Oel, A.P., Jandzik, D., Sobrido-Cameán, D., Santos-Durán, G.N., Martik, M.L., Stundl, J., Green, S.A., Brüning, T., Mößinger, K., Schmidt, J., Schneider, C., Sepp, M., Murat, F., Smith, J.J., Bronner, M.E., Rodicio, M.C., Barreiro-Iglesias, A., Medeiros, D.M., Arendt, D., and Kaessmann, H. (2023) A lamprey neural cell type atlas illuminates the origins of the vertebrate brain. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 10:1714-1728. URL Murat, F., Mbengue, N., Boeg Winge, S., Trefzer, T., Leushkin, E., Sepp, M., Cardoso-Moreira, M., Schmidt, J., Schneider, C., Mößinger, K., Brüning, T., Lamanna, F., Riera Belles, M., Conrad, C., Kondova, I., Bontrop, R., Behr, R., Khaitovich, P., Pääbo, S., Marques-Bonet, T., Grützner, F., Almstrup, K., Heide Schierup, M., Kaessmann, H. (2022) The molecular evolution of spermatogenesis across mammals. Nature 613:308-316. URL Sarropoulos, I., Sepp, M., Frömel, R., Leiss, K., Trost, N., Leushkin, E., Okonechnikov, K., Joshi, P., Giere, P., Kutscher, L.M., Cardoso-Moreira, M., Pfister, S.M., and Kaessmann, H. (2021) Developmental and evolutionary dynamics of cis-regulatory elements in mouse cerebellar cells. Science 373:eabg4696. URL Mazin, P.V., Khaitovich, P., Cardoso-Moreira, M., and Kaessmann, H. (2021) Alternative splicing during mammalian organ development. Nat. Genet. 53:924-935. URL Wang, Z.Y., Leushkin, E., Liechti, A., Ovchinnikova, S., Mößinger, K., Brüning, T., Rummel, C., Grützner, F., Cardoso-Moreira, M., Janich, P., Gatfield, D., Diagouraga, B., de Massy, B., Gill, M.E., Peters, A.H.F.M., Anders, S., and Kaessmann, H. (2020) Transcriptome and translatome co-evolution in mammals. Nature 588: 642-647. URL Cardoso-Moreira, M., Halbert, J., Valloton, D., Velten, B., Chen, C., Shao, Y., Liechti, A., Ascenção, K., Rummel, C., Ovchinnikova, S., Mazin, P.V., Xenarios, I., Harshman, K., Mort, M., Cooper, D.N., Sandi, C., Soares, M.J., Ferreira, P.G., Afonso, S., Carneiro, M., Turner, J.M., VandeBerg, J.L., Fallahshahroudi, A., Jensen, P., Behr, R., Lisgo, S., Lindsay, S., Khaitovich, P., Huber, W., Baker, J., Anders, S., Zhang, Y.E., and Kaessmann, H. (2019) Gene expression across mammalian organ development. Nature 571: 505-509. URL Sarropoulos, I., Marin, R., Cardoso-Moreira, M., and Kaessmann, H. (2019) Developmental dynamics of lncRNAs across mammalian organs and species. Nature 571: 510-514. URL
Necsulea, A. and Kaessmann, H. (2014) Evolutionary dynamics of coding and noncoding transcriptomes. Nat. Rev. Genet. 5: 734-48. URL Kaessmann, H. (2010) Origins, evolution and phenotypic impact of new genes. Genome Res. 20: 1313-1326. URL Kaessmann, H., Vinckenbosch, N., and Long, M. (2009) RNA-based gene duplication: mechanistic and evolutionary insights. Nat. Rev. Genet. 10: 19-31. URL |