• Welcome to the GMI

    JOIN US — We are constantly looking for people with big ideas, who would enjoy and augment the intellectual freedom we provide. If this appeals to you, get in touch — contact any group leader.

    Open Positions
  • Welcome to the GMI

    JOIN US — We are constantly looking for people with big ideas, who would enjoy and augment the intellectual freedom we provide. If this appeals to you, get in touch — contact any group leader.

    Open Positions
  • Welcome to the GMI

    JOIN US — We are constantly looking for people with big ideas, who would enjoy and augment the intellectual freedom we provide. If this appeals to you, get in touch — contact any group leader.

    Open Positions

JOIN US — We are constantly looking for people with big ideas, who would enjoy and augment the intellectual freedom we provide. If this appeals to you, get in touch — contact any group leader.

Open Positions

Our Mission

The GMI is a research institute devoted to plant biology. Plants created our atmosphere and sustain life on earth. Our goal is to make fundamental discoveries that help us understand how plants function — discoveries that may be essential to address global challenges like climate change. Our research ranges from molecules to ecosystems, involving a wide variety of plants — all depending on the question. We study photosynthesis in unicellular alga, and climate adaptation in coniferous trees. We believe in enabling researchers at all levels to pursue big questions in an intellectually stimulating, diverse, and collaborative environment. Key to our success is minimal hierarchy and bureaucracy, outstanding facilities, and core funding.

Microscopy image of an Arabidopsis flower bud. In green, stem cell nuclei. In magenta, a cytoplasmic marker for the epidermal layer. ©Bradamante/Mittelsten Scheid/GMI

About us

The GMI is part of the Vienna BioCenter, a leading life science cluster, comprising several research institutes, universities, and start-up companies, located close to the center of Vienna. The institute is owned and funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). Research topics include basic mechanisms of epigenetics, cell biology, plant-pathogen interactions, developmental biology, and population genetics. The GMI provides a lively, international working environment with around 130 people, embedded in a campus with over 1700 people from more than 70 countries. The working language is English. We strive for a friendly, inclusive environment, and provide an on-campus child care center.

Latest Research

New origin story for key regulatory gene

The key protein complex PRC2 was discovered decades ago to silence genes, but new findings by Frederic Berger and his group at the…

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Unearthing the hidden trove of long non-coding RNAs in plants

Long non-coding RNAs, an enigmatic class of genes that do not encode proteins, exhibit greater variability and are subject to more…

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Histone variants shape the Arabidopsis epigenome

A new eLife paper by Fred Berger uncovers the key role histone variants play in establishing chromatin states in Arabidopsis.

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A CRISPR-based lab tool for lineage tracing in vivo

How do individual cells give rise to the range of cellular lineages in multicellular organisms? Now, researchers from Ortrun…

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FURTHER NEWS

Remembering Philip Benfey: A Pioneer in Plant Developmental Biology

It is with great sadness that we received news about the passing of Philip Benfey, a highly esteemed former member of the Gregor Mendel Institute's Scientific Advisory Board.

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A Scientist’s Perspective on the Gene-editing Debate

Ortrun Mittelsten Scheid, a senior research scientist and consultant at the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, highlights the need for a scientifically-based public dialogue on GMO regulations, in response to a revised EU directive on gene technology.

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Scientific Research Career Paths Are Not Always Direct, Researchers Share At Vienna Girls' Day

During a region-wide event on April 27, GMI welcomed a cohort of female secondary school students from Vienna to learn about career paths for professions in the natural sciences.

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Proteome Pioneer Award for Karl Mechtler

Karl Mechtler, Head of the Proteomics Tech Hub at IMP, IMBA, and GMI, is the first Austrian scientist to receive the prestigious Juan Pablo Albar Proteome Pioneer Award from the European Proteomics Association.

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Yasin Dagdas elected to the OeAW’s Young Academy

Yasin Dagdas, group leader at the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (GMI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), is a newly elected member of the OeAW’s Young Academy. With its excellent young researchers from all disciplines, the Young Academy is one of the pillars supporting…

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EVENTS

Oct
02
12:30

Monday Seminar (Internal)

Speaker: STRAVS Ana (Knoblich), SANCHEZ DE MEDINA HERNANDEZ Victor (Dagdas), HORENKAMP Simone (Tanaka)
Type: Monday Seminar
Location: IMP Lecture Hall
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Oct
03
11:30

Chromatin as a gatekeeper of chromosome replication

Speaker: Christoph Kurat
Type: New Developments in Chromosome
Location: Max Perutz Labs SR 1 (6th floor)
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Oct
06
11:30

Mitotic rewiring on evolutionary timescales

Speaker: Gautam Dey
Type: GMI Seminar
Location: GMI Orange Seminar Room
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Oct
09
12:30

Monday Seminar (Internal)

Speaker: PROTELL I DE MONTSERRAT Julia (Brennecke/Plaschka), NAGUMO WONG Sakurako (Knoblich), CORIC Aida (Tessmar)
Type: Monday Seminar
Location: IMP Lecture Hall
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PUBLICATIONS

Voichek Y, Hurieva B, Michaud C, et al. (2023) Cell-cycle status of male and female gametes during Arabidopsis reproduction. Plant Physiol [epub] preprint bioRxiv:2023.02.22.529524.

Caygill S and Dolan L (2023) ATP binding cassette transporters and uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferases are ancient protein families that evolved roles in herbicide resistance through exaptation. PLoS One 18(9):e0287356 preprint bioRxiv:2023.06.06.543864.

Hisanaga T, Romani F, Wu S, et al. (2023) The Polycomb repressive complex 2 deposits H3K27me3 and represses transposable elements in a broad range of eukaryotes. Curr Biol [epub] preprint bioRxiv:2022.10.24.513474.

Matzinger M and Mechtler K. (2023) Improving single cell proteomics experiments: how can we best utilize latest-generation data acquisition and MS instrument architecture? Expert Rev Proteomics [epub].

Voichek Y, Hristova G, Mollá-Morales A, et al. (2023)Widespread transcriptional regulation from within transcribed regions in plants. bioRxiv:2023.09.15.557872. 

Aguilar-Cruz A, Flores-Sandoval E, Gutierrez-Ramos X, et al. (2023) Control of cell fate specification and patterning by an ancestral microRNA. bioRxiv:2023.09.09.556951.

Kornienko AE, Nizhynska V, Molla Morales A, et al. (2023) Population-level annotation of lncRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana reveals extensive expression variation associated with transposable element-like silencing. Plant Cell [epub] preprint: bioRxiv:2023.03.14.532599.

Fridrich A, Salinas-Saaverda M, Kozlolvski I, et al. (2023) An ancient pan-cnidarian microRNA regulates stinging capsule biogenesis in Nematostella vectensis. Cell Rep 42(9):113072 preprint bioRxiv:2022.12.15.520629.

Wallner ES, Dolan L, Bergmann DC (2023) Arabidopsis stomatal lineage cells establish bipolarity and segregate differential signaling capacity to regulate stem cell potential. Dev Cell [epub].

Birklbauer MJ, Matzinger M, Müller F, et al. (2023) MS Annika 2.0 Identifies Cross-Linked Peptides in MS2-MS3-Based Workflows at High Sensitivity and Specificity. J Proteome Res 22(9):3009-21.

Lee DH, Choi I, Park SJ, et al. (2023) Three consecutive cytosolic glycolysis enzymes modulate autophagic flux. Plant Physiol [epub].

Sundar G VH, Sotelo-Parrilla P, Raju S, et al. (2023) Oryza genera-specific novel Histone H4 variant predisposes H4 Lysine5 Acetylation marks to modulate salt stress responses. bioRxiv:2023.07.31.551207.

Zecua-Ramirez P, Llamas E, Charura N, et al. (2023) Autophagy restricts fungal accommodation in the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana. bioRxiv:2023.07.21.550010. 

Durut N, Kornienko AE, Schmidt HA, et al. (2023) Long non-coding RNAs contribute to DNA damage resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genetics 225(1):iyad135 preprint bioRxiv:2023.03.20.533408. 

Jamge B, Lorkovic ZJ, Axelsson E, et al. (2023) Histone variants shape chromatin states in Arabidopsis. Elife 12:RP87714 preprint bioRxiv:2023.03.08.531698.

Osakabe A, Takizawa Y, Horikhosi N, et al. (2023) Molecular and structural basis of the heterochromatin-specific chromatin remodeling activity by Arabidopsis DDM1. bioRxiv:2023.07.10.548306.

Dona M, Bradamante G, Bogojevic Z, et al. (2023) A versatile CRISPR-based system for lineage tracing in living plants. Plant J 115(5):1169-84 preprint bioRxiv:2023.02.09.527713.

Jiang D and Berger F (2023) Variation is important: Warranting chromatin function and dynamics by histone variants. Curr Opin Plant Biol 75:102408.

The GMI is part of the Vienna BioCenter, one of the leading international life science research centers worldwide that has established itself as the premier location for life sciences in Central Europe.

viennabiocenter.org