We are a newly established research group combining epigenetics, protein biochemistry and plant development. Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, we combine molecular genetics and biochemistry to uncover how plants establish, maintain and regulate molecular memories of environmental conditions.
We investigate how plants store information about past conditions and use it to guide their development in changing environments, including those shaped by climate change. Responding appropriately to environmental conditions is essential for plant survival and reproduction. In crops, the timing of key developmental transitions directly affects resilience, productivity and yield. Our findings could therefore contribute to future strategies for developing crop varieties that maintain their performance under increasingly variable and challenging conditions.
As a newly established group, we build on Anna Schulten’s previous research into how plants turn environmental information into lasting changes in gene activity, including how they “remember” winter to flower at the right time. This work showed that proteins helping the Polycomb system – a molecular mechanism that switches genes off – can form clusters. These clusters help Polycomb proteins stay in the right place in the genome and keep a gene switched off over time. The discovery reveals a new mechanism behind epigenetic memory and suggests that proteins joining forces in this way may be a broader principle of gene regulation.
We currently focus on Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), an important regulator of gene activity, and associated proteins known as VEL proteins. We investigate their molecular properties, how they interact and how environmental conditions influence their activity. We still know relatively little about how environmental signals directly affect the molecular behaviour of Polycomb regulators. Plants are a powerful model for studying this question because their development is closely linked to the environment. We aim to uncover new principles of epigenetic regulation and cellular memory.
