Conservation and diversification of MIKC_1hn* MADS-domain transcription factors during the evolution of vascular land plants [Elektronische Ressource] / vorgelegt von Michiel Kwantes

Conservation and diversification of MIKC* MADS-domain transcription factors during the evolution of vascular land plants Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität zu Köln vorgelegt von Michiel Kwantes aus Tilburg, Niederlande Köln, 2010 Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde am Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung in Köln durchgeführt. Berichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Heinz Saedler Prof. Dr. Jonathan C. Howard Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 25.06.2009 “So I have just one wish for you - the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described […that is not lying, but bending over backwards to show how you're maybe wrong…] and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity. May you have that freedom.” Richard P. Feynman Adapted from the Caltech commencement address given in 1974. Abstract The morphological diversity of land plants is astounding. However, what we see mostly is the sporophytic phase that is dominant in the majority of land plants. In contrast, the diversity of the secret gametophytic phase is unseen and rather uninvestigated.