Epigenetics in plants
Epigenetics in Plants
Our research focuses on the transgenerational inheritance of epigenetic information in plants and on the molecular mechanisms involved in this process. In other words, we study mechanisms of the formation, maintenance and interaction of epiallelic variants at defined loci or chromosomal regions. To be inherited, epialleles not only need to preserve their identity during meiosis and the postmeiotic division of the male and/or female gametophytes but, as the plant germ-line is formed late in development from somatic cells that have undergone many mitotic divisions, the fidelity of transgenerational inheritance also relies directly on the mitotic propagation of epigenetic states. These states can often be correlated with the particular composition of epigenetic marks; however, their contribution to a particular epigenetic state and their regulatory interactions are still far from being fully understood.
Research topics
Epigenetics
Polyploidy
Homologous recombination
Stress
Interdisciplinary
Genomics
Bioinformatics
Structural Biology
In the context of the plant science web we have collaborations with U. Grossniklaus (UZH), J.P. Métraux (UNIFR) and C. Hardke (UNIL)
