The event is being organized by the German Consulate General Kolkata under the SCIENCE LECTURE SERIES
From green to colorful - Flowers, their genetic code and their evolutionary origin
Flowering plants (angiosperms) dominate most of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems since around 120 Million years. They are the most species-rich group of plants and provide, directly or indirectly, most of our food. Charles Darwin was intrigued by their sudden appearance in the fossil record, their fast diversification, and radiation, which he described as „abominable mystery“. Prof. Annette Becker will show the significance of flowering plants for life on our planet and place flowers in an evolutionary context. Further, she will explain the simple genetic code orchestrating flower development by using well-known examples from flower shops.
© Annette Becker
Dr. Annette Becker
Dr. Annette Becker is a Geneticist, who works as a Professor for Developmental Biology of Plants in the Institute of Botany at Justus-Liebig-University, Germany. She studied Biology in Tübingen, Göttingen, Oulu (Finland), and in Tallahassee (USA) and had her PhD in Genetics from Max-Planck-Institute for Breeding Research, Cologne and University of Cologne. Dr. Becker has Post Docs from Universities of Münster, Jena, and Monash University (Australia). The origin and evolution of novel traits in plants is her main research interest. She and her team aim to identify the genes and the molecular mechanisms that facilitate the development of the flowers and evolve them into such a stunning diversity. The Becker group uses a range of novel model organisms representing different steps in plant evolution to improve crop yield and quality. Dr. Becker is also the Coordinator of the DFG funded Research Unit FOR 5098 “ICIPS” (Innovation and Coevolution in Plant Sexual Reproduction) and the Vice president of the European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology.
All are welcome.
Back
