We study epigenetics and RNA-mediated gene regulation. Work in our lab focuses in understanding the molecular basis, biological role and widespread influence of paramutation in plants from an evolutionary developmental (Evo Devo) perspective.
We are interested in epigenetics and developmental biology. Our main focus is trying to understand the molecular basis, evolution and biological implications of paramutation. Paramutation is the most amazing and extreme example of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. Paramutation is an interaction between alleles (or homologous sequences) that leads to mitotically and meiotically heritable changes in gene expression of one of the alleles. Paramutation was discovered in maize in the 1950's and numerous examples of paramutation and paramutation-like phenomena have emerged over the decades in other plant and animal species. In plants, paramutation is mediated by components of the major small-RNA mediated epigenetic pathway known as the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway or RdDM. Since 2011, we started an exciting journey that lead us to the discovery of the core components of the RdDM and microRNA pathways in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha -one of the oldest extant living plant-. We are employing functional genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic strategies to characterize our collection of mutants generated employing the CRISPR-Cas9 system.