Skip to content

Prof. Dr. Alexander Suh

  • Head of Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)
  • Head of Section Molecular Biodiversity

Margarethe Koenig Synapse
Friedrich-Hirzebruch-Allee 3
53115 Bonn

Phone: +49 228 9122 289
E-Mail: a.suh@leibniz-lib.de

  • Prof. Dr. Alexander Suh is a professor of molecular biodiversity research at the University of Bonn and director of the Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change. His research focuses on evolutionary genomics, with a particular emphasis on the evolutionary mechanisms that shape sex- and tissue-specific differences in genomes.
    After earning his Ph.D. and habilitation in biology at the University of Münster and Uppsala University in Sweden, Alexander Suh held various international positions, including research and teaching roles in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He combines state-of-the-art molecular biology methods with comparative genomics to unravel the evolutionary history of birds and other organisms.
    His work has contributed significantly to our understanding of the role of retrotransposons in the evolution of sex chromosomes and provides important insights into the mechanisms that shape biodiversity at the molecular level. Alexander Suh is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and is actively involved in training the next generation of evolutionary biologists.

  • The Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb) is an international leader in innovative and integrative biodiversity change research across ecological and evolutionary time scales. The zmb redefines collection-based molecular research by integrating interdisciplinary expertise with cutting-edge infrastructures to drive and disseminate both basic and applied research.

Projects

Publications

| of

    2026

  • 2026/08

    Formenti, G., Jain, N., Medico, J.A., Sollitto, M., Antipov, D., Barcellos, S., Biegler, M., Borges, I., Chang, J.K., Chen, Y., Cheng, H., da Conceição, H.B., Davenport, M., De Oliveira, L., Duarte, E., Durham, G., Fenn, J., Forde, N., Galante, P.A., Gerhardt, K., Giani, A.M., Giunta, S., Kim, J., Komissarov, A., Koo, B., Koren, S., Larkin, D., Lee, C., Li, H., Makova, K.D., Masterson, P., Murphy, T., McCaffrey, K., Mercuri, R.L.V., Na, Y., O’Connell, M.J., Ou, S., Phillippy, A.M., Popova, M., Rhie, A., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Secomandi, S., Smeds, L., Suh, A., Tilley, T., Vontzou, N., Waters, P.D., Balacco, J., Jarvis, E.D.

    Show more...

    The complete genome of a songbird

    Cell, 16, 189

  • 2026/05

    Uliano-Silva, M., da Conceição, H.B., Mercuri, R.L.V., Winkler, S., Guardia, G.D.A., Myers, E., McCarthy, S., Tracey, A., Suh, A., Blaxter, M., Galante, P.A.F., Mazzoni, C.J.

    Show more...

    Elevated retrocopy burden and sloth-specific expansions illuminate mammalian genome evolution

    BMC Biology

  • 2026/05

    Nuriddinov, M., Malinovskaya, L., Bobrovskikh, A., Gridina, M., Serdyukova, N.A., Suh, A., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Torgasheva, A.

    Show more...

    Chromosome-level genome assembly of the sand martin (Riparia riparia)

    Scientific data

  • 2026/04

    Kück, P., Suh, A.

    Show more...

    Persistent conflict in palaeognath phylogeny revealed by quartet-based and ML analyses

    Frontiers in Zoology

  • 2026/03

    Chen, A., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Contreras-López, O., Fouché, S., Suh, A., Pei, Y.

    Show more...

    Paralog-aware assembly and filtering strategies reveal minimal nucleotide variation on the macro germline-restricted chromosome of the zebra finch

    Heredity

  • 2025

  • 2025/12

    Vontzou, N., Pei, Y., Campo-Bes, I., Forstmeier, W., Hertel, M., Irimia, M., Kempenaers, B., Kuhn, S., Martin, K., Mueller, J.C., Teltscher, K., Mollbrink, A., Abalo, X., Biegler, M.T., Immler, S., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Suh, A.S.

    Show more...

    The germline-restricted chromosome orchestrates germ cell development in passerine birds

  • 2025/10

    Lutgen, D., Peona, V., Chase, M.A., Kakhki, N.A., Lammers, F., de Souza, S.G., Ducrest, A., Burri, M., Andriopoulos, P., Lukhele, S.M., Moysi, M., Yohannes, E., Abbasov, A., Albayrak, T., Aliabadian, M., Auchli, N., Bontzorlos, V., Christoforou, I., Copete, J.L., Fulco, E., Garcia, J.T., Javakhishvili, Z., Kazazou, A., Lei, F., Liu, Y., Paposhvili, N., Patchett, R., Péter, Á., Ritter, R., Sándor, A.D., Schneider, F., Shurulinkov, P., Sklyarenko, S., Stumberger, B., Tagiyev, A., Uboldi, A., Vogiatzis, N., Taborsak-Lines, F., Gruselius, J., Yao, L., Peichel, C.L., Suh, A., Gagnaire, P., Kirschel, A.N.G., Schweizer, M., Schielzeth, H., Burri, R.

    Show more...

    A mosaic of modular variation at a single gene underpins convergent plumage coloration

    Science, 6770, 390

  • 2025/10

    Pei, Y., Forstmeier, W., Suh, A., Bambach, L., Borges, I., Low, G.W., Dion-Côté, A., Knief, U., Wolf, J., Kempenaers, B.

    Show more...

    Evolution of large polymorphic inversions in a panmictic songbird

    Molecular Biology and Evolution

  • 2025/10

    Roussel, A., Suh, A., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Dion-Côté, A.

    Show more...

    Accumulation of a biparentally-inherited Neptune transposable element in natural Killifish hybrids (Fundulus diaphanus × F. heteroclitus)

    Molecular Biology and Evolution

  • 2025/10

    Palacios-Gimenez, O.M., Varma, M., Cheng, X., Mosbech, M., Suh, A., Schielzeth, H.

    Show more...

    Chromosome-level assembly of the club-legged grasshopper (Gomphocerus sibiricus) genome

    G3

  • 2025/07

    Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Schlebusch, S.A., Vontzou, N., Moreno, H., Biegler, M.T., Kutschera, V.E., Ekman, D., Borges, I., Pei, Y., Rossini, R., Albrecht, T., Boman, J., Borodin, P., Burri, R., Cain, K.E., Forstmeier, W., Frankl-Vilches, C., Gahr, M., Griffith, S.C., Hill, A.M., Irestedt, M., Joseph, L., Jønsson, K.A., Kawakami, T., Kempenaers, B., Malinovskaya, L., Mueller, J.C., Oliveira, E.H.C.d., Palacios-Gimenez, O.M., Palinauskas, V., Qvarnström, A., Reifova, R., Ridl, J., Segami, J.C., Tan, D.J.X., Torgasheva, A., Whibley, A., Suh, A.S.

    Show more...

    Programmed DNA elimination drives rapid genomic innovation in two thirds of all bird species

    bioRxiv

  • 2025/07

    Rídl, J., Dedukh, D., Halenková, Z., Schlebusch, S.A., Beneš, V., Lopez, M.O., Osiejuk, T.S., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Suh, A., Albrecht, T., Reif, J., Reifová, R.

    Show more...

    Germline-restricted chromosome of songbirds has different centromere compared to regular chromosomes

    Heredity

  • 2025/05

    Dedukh, D., Malinovskaya, L., Kauzál, O., Rídl, J., Odnoprienko, D., Karamysheva, T., Vontzou, N., Janko, K., Suh, A., Albrecht, T., Torgasheva, A., Reifová, R.

    Show more...

    Mechanisms and timing of programmed DNA elimination in songbirds

  • 2025/05

    Roussel, A., Suh, A., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Dion-Côté, A.

    Show more...

    Accumulation of a biparentally-inherited Neptune transposable element in natural Killifish hybrids (Fundulus diaphanus × F. heteroclitus)

    bioRxiv

  • 2025/05

    Letsch, H., Greve, C., Hundsdoerfer, A.K., Irisarri, I., Moore, J.M., Espeland, M., Wanke, S., Arifin, U., Blom, M.P.K., Corrales, C., Donath, A., Fritz, U., Köhler, G., Kück, P., Lemer, S., Mengual, X., Salas, N.M., Meusemann, K., Palandačić, A., Printzen, C., Sigwart, J.D., Silva-Brandão, K.L., Simões, M., Stange, M., Suh, A., Szucsich, N., Tilic, E., Töpfer, T., Böhne, A., Janke, A., Pauls, S.

    Show more...

    Type genomics: a framework for integrating genomic data into biodiversity and taxonomic research

    Systematic Biology, 6, 74

  • 2025/02

    Monsen, O., Gronvold, L., Datsomor, A., Harvey, T.N., Kijas, J., Suh, A.S., Hvidsten, T.R., Sandve, S.R.

    Show more...

    The role of transposon activity in shapingcis-regulatory element evolution after whole genome duplication

    Genome Research

  • 2024

  • 2024/12

    Li, X., Jayaprasad, S., Einarsdottir, E., Cooper, S.J.B., Suh, A., Kawakami, T., Palacios-Gimenez, O.M.

    Show more...

    Chromosome-level genome assembly of the morabine grasshopper Vandiemenella viatica19

    Scientific data, 1, 11

  • 2024/09

    Thörn, F., Soares, A.E.R., Müller, I.A., Päckert, M., Frahnert, S., van Grouw, H., Kamminga, P., Peona, V., Suh, A., Blom, M.P.K., Irestedt, M.

    Show more...

    Contemporary intergeneric hybridization and backcrossing among birds-of-paradise

    Evolution Letters, 5, 8

  • 2024/08

    Schartl, M., Woltering, J.M., Irisarri, I., Du, K., Kneitz, S., Pippel, M., Brown, T., Franchini, P., Li, J., Li, M., Adolfi, M., Winkler, S., de Freitas Sousa, J., Chen, Z., Jacinto, S., Kvon, E.Z., Correa de Oliveira, L.R., Monteiro, E., Baia Amaral, D., Burmester, T., Chalopin, D., Suh, A., Myers, E., Simakov, O., Schneider, I., Meyer, A.

    Show more...

    The genomes of all lungfish inform on genome expansion and tetrapod evolution

    Nature

  • 2023

  • 2023/12

    Vontzou, N., Pei, Y., Mueller, J.C., Reifová, R., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Schlebusch, S.A., Suh, A.S.

    Show more...

    Songbird germline-restricted chromosome as a potential arena of genetic conflicts

    Current Opinion in Genetics & Development, 83

  • 2022

  • 2022/09

    Borodin, P., Chen, A., Forstmeier, W., Fouché, S., Malinovskaya, L., Pei, Y., Reifová, R., Ruiz-Ruano, F.J., Schlebusch, S.A., Sotelo-Muñoz, M., Torgasheva, A., Vontzou, N., Suh, A.S.

    Show more...

    Mendelian nightmares: the germline-restricted chromosome of songbirds

    Chromosome Research, 2, 30

Privacy Settings
This site uses cookies and third party elements to provide you with certain features and an optimal website experience. These include cookies that are strictly necessary for the operation of the site, cookies for anonymous statistical analysis/measurement, and the embedding of external services whose use you must consent to prior to use. You can find more information below in the notes on the individual functions and in detail in our privacy policy.
These cookies are necessary to enable the basic functions of our website.
This consent allows you to view external contents (via iframe).
This consent allows you to watch embedded videos.
Page views are recorded for statistical purposes using Matomo in order to constantly optimise our website. The visitor's IP address is pseudonymised.
Settings saved