Dr. Claudius Kratochwil

Department of Biology
Building M, Room M823
University of Konstanz
Universitätsstr. 10
78457 Konstanz
Tel: +49 (0) 7531 884583

E-mail: claudius.kratochwil@uni-konstanz.de
Homepage: www.claudius-kratochwil.com
Evolution is an often surprisingly fast process that results in new  adaptations, but also is the mechanism for the origin of novel species. Genetic variation and the resulting changes in an organism’s characteristics are the raw material for selection to act on, which might allow for the evolution of adaptations in response to changing environments. My study organisms are cichlid fish, a famous textbook example of exuberant diversity and record-breaking rates at which new species arise, chosen as a means for understanding the molecular mechanisms that drive phenotypic diversity. 
In particular, I study how changes in the regulation of gene expression are used to drive the evolution of phenotypically diverse traits, such as body coloration and pigmentation. There is accumulating evidence that especially the regulation of how, when and where genes are expressed plays a pivotal part in the process of diversification. Instead of redesigning its components, evolution “tinkers” with the existing bits. By conducting a more comprehensive study across cichlid species, I aim to better understand how “evolutionary tinkering” within gene regulation contributes to the molecular underpinnings of the diversification.
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More information about my past and ongoing project can be found here.
Curriculum Vitae
  • since 2013  Postdoctoral fellow, Faculty of Biology & Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Germany (Host: Prof. Dr. Axel Meyer)
  • 2008 – 2013 PhD in Neurobiology, Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, Switzerland (Advisor: Prof. Dr. Filippo Rijli)
  • 2007 – 2008 Diploma thesis In Biology, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany (Advisor: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Driever)
  • 2004 – 2008 Diploma studies in Biology, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany
   
Research Grants
  • 2017 – 2020 German Research Foundation (DFG) Scientific Network Grant
  • 2017    Zukunftskolleg Co-Funding, University of Konstanz
  • 2016    Investment Program for Research, University of Konstanz
  • 2016    Young Scholar Fund, University of Konstanz
  • 2016 – 2019    German Research Foundation (DFG) Research Grant 
  • 2016 – 2019    Elite Program for Postdocs, Baden-Württemberg Stiftung
  • 2015 – 2016    Reinvestment Program, University of Konstanz (with Joost Woltering)
  • 2015 – 2016    Interim Grant, University of Konstanz
  • 2015    Zukunftskolleg Co-Funding, University of Konstanz
  • 2015    Zukunftskolleg Student Assistance Program, University of Konstanz
  • 2013    Zukunftskolleg Co-Funding, University of Konstanz
  • 2014    Zukunftskolleg Student Assistance Program, University of Konstanz
  • 2013    Zukunftskolleg Co-Funding, University of Konstanz
  • 2013 – 2015    Zukunftskolleg Research Allowance, University of Konstanz

Awards and Fellowships 
  • 2013 – 2015: Marie Curie Zukunftskolleg Incoming Fellowship (ZIF-MC)
  • 2013 – 2015: Early Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship, Swiss National Science Foundation, SNSF
  • 2008 – 2013: PhD Scholarship, Novartis Research Foundation

Publications 
  1. Tervonen TA*, Louhivuori V*, Sun X, Hokannen M-E, Kratochwil CF, Zebryk P, Castren E and Castren ML (2009). Aberrant differentiation of glutamatergic cells in neocortex of mouse model for fragile X syndrome. Neurobiol. Dis. 33 (2), 250–259
  2. Kastenhuber E*, Kratochwil CF*, Ryu S*, Schweitzer J and Driever W (2010). Genetic dissection of dopaminergic and noradrenergic contributions to catecholaminergic tracts in early larval zebrafish. J Comp Neurol 518 (4), 439–458.
  3. Minoux M, Kratochwil CF, Ducret S, Amin S, Kitazawa T, Kurihara H, Bobola N, Vilain N and Rijli FM (2013). Mouse Hoxa2 genetic analysis provides a model for microtia and auricle duplication. Development 140 (21), 4386–4397.
  4. Di Meglio T*, Kratochwil CF*, Vilain N, Loche A, Vitobello A, Yonehara K, Roska B, Peters AHFM, Wellik D, Ducret S and Rijli FM (2013). Ezh2 orchestrates topographic tangential migration and connectivity of precerebellar neurons. Science 339 (6116), 204–207.
  5. Kratochwil CF and Rijli FM (2014): “The Cre/lox system to assess the development of the mouse brain”, Brain development: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology (Simon G. Sprecher ed.), Springer, New York. 1082, 295–313.  
  6. Kratochwil CF (2015) Comment on: Forgetting – A cognitive neuroscience perspective. In: Galizia G and Schulman D (eds.), Forgetting (Jerusalem: Magnes Press of the Hebrew University
  7. Kratochwil CF and Meyer A (2015). Closing the genotype–phenotype gap: Emerging technologies for evolutionary genetics in ecological model vertebrate systems. BioEssays 37 (2), 213-226. 
  8. Kratochwil CF*, Sefton MS* and Meyer A (2015). Embryonic and larval development in the Midas cichlid fish species flock (Amphilophus spp.): a new evo-devo model for the investigation of adaptive novelties and species differences. BMC Developmental Biology 15: 12. 
  9. Kratochwil CF and Meyer A (2015). Mapping active promoters by ChIP-seq profiling of H3K4me3 in cichlid fish: A first step to uncover cis-regulatory elements in ecological model teleosts. Molecular Ecology Resources. 15 (4), 761-771.
  10. Kratochwil CF and Meyer A (2015). Evolution: Tinkering within gene regulatory landscapes.  Current Biology, 25 (7), R285–R288. 
  11. Bechara A, Laumonnerie C, Vilain N, Kratochwil CF, Cankovic V, Maiorano N, Kirschmann M, Ducret S and Rijli FM (2015): Hoxa2 selects barrelette neuron identity and connectivity in the mouse somatosensory brainstem. Cell Reports 13 (4), 783-797
  12. Kratochwil CF*, Geissler L*, Irisarri I*, Meyer A (2015): Molecular evolution of the neural crest regulatory network in ray-finned fish. Genome Biology and Evolution 7 (11), 3033-3046
  13. Renier N, Dominici C, Erzurumlu R, Kratochwil CF, Rijli FM, Gaspar P and Chédotal A (2017): A mutant with bilateral whisker to barrel inputs unveils somatosensory mapping rules in the cerebral cortex. eLife 6, e23494. 
  14. Kratochwil CF, Maheshwari and Rijli FM (2017): The Long Journey Of Pontine Nuclei Neurons: From Rhombic Lip To Cortico-Ponto-Cerebellar Circuitry. Front. Neural Circuits 11:33.
  15. Kratochwil CF*, Sefton MS*, Liang Y and Meyer A (2017).​ Tol2 transposon-mediated transgenesis in the Midas cichlid (Amphilophus citrinellus) — towards understanding gene function and regulatory evolution in an ecological model system for rapid phenotypic diversification. BMC Developmental Biology 17: 15. 

​* equal contribution

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