Leaf development. The vegetative shoot apical meristem consists of a small group of dividing cells, which give rise to leaf primordia in very regular and predictable temporal and spatial patterns. We are interested in understanding the physical, chemical and mathematical basis of this regularity.

Molecular ecology of plant-pollinator interactions. We are developing Petunia as a model plant for studying natural variation. We have initiated a long-term program of interspecific crosses with the aim of isolating new genes involved in plant-pollinator interactions. 

Molecular breeding and genomics of Tef. We focus on improving economically important but under-researched crops from developing world. Currently we do research on tef (Eragrostis tef), a major cereal crop from Ethiopia. Tef is particularly important because it adapts to diverse climatic and soil conditions and also tolerates many pests and diseases.

SystemsX Project: Plant Growth in a changing environment. Our aim is to construct mechanistic models that describe growth at different organizational levels (regulatory networks, cells, tissues, organs, whole plant) to understand plant growth at all levels of complexity.

• Identification of transcription factors controlling floral morphology in wildPetuniaspecies with contrasting pollination syndromes
  Yarahmadov, Tural; Robinson, Sarah; Hanemian, Mathieu; Pulver, Valentin; Kuhlemeier, Cris
  Plant Journal, 10.1111/tpj.14962  OCT 2020
• Toward a 3D model of phyllotaxis based on a biochemically plausible auxin-transport mechanism
  Hartmann, FP; de Reuille, PB; Kuhlemeier, C
  PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY, 15 (4):10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006896 APR 2019
• Pseudogenization and Resurrection of a Speciation Gene
  Esfeld, K; Berardi, AE; Moser, M; Bossolini, E; Freitas, L; Kuhlemeier, C
  CURRENT BIOLOGY, 28 (23):3776-+; 10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.019 DEC 3 2018
• Do we truly understand pollination syndromes in Petunia as much as we suppose?
  Rodrigues, Daniele M; Caballero-Villalobos, Lina; Turchetto, Caroline; Assis Jacques, Rosangela; Kuhlemeier, Cris; Freitas, Loreta B (2018).
  AoB PLANTS, 10(5) Oxford University Press 10.1093/aobpla/ply057
• Global Compression Reorients Cortical Microtubules in Arabidopsis Hypocotyl Epidermis and Promotes Growth.
  Robinson, Sarah Jane; Kuhlemeier, Cris (2018).
  Current Biology, 28(11), 1794-1802.e2. Cell Press 10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.028
• An Automated Confocal Micro-Extensometer Enables in Vivo Quantification of Mechanical Properties with Cellular Resolution 
  Robinson, Sarah; Huflejt, Michal; de Reuille, Pierre Barbier; Siobhan A Braybrook; Martine Schorderet; Didier Reinhardt; Cris Kuhlemeier
  PLANT CELL, 29 (12): 2959-2973, 10.1105/tpc.17.00753 DEC 2017
• How to get old without aging 
  Kuhlemeier, Cris 
  NATURE PLANTS, 3 (12): 916-917 10.1038/s41477-017-0076-7  DEC 2017
• Phyllotaxis 
  Kuhlemeier, Cris 
  CURRENT BIOLOGY, 27 (17): 10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.069 SEP 11 2017
• Focus on Flowering and Reproduction 
  Amasino, Richard M.; Cheung, Alice Y.; Dresselhaus, Thomas; Kuhlemeier, Cris
  PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 173 (1): 1-4, 10.1104/pp.16.01867  JAN 2017