Epigenetic regulation of chromosome and nuclear organization. All inheritable chromosome conditions not encoded by the DNA sequence itself are called epigenetic, including gene expression and for most eukaryotes also centromere and telomere identity.
Using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism my lab is particularly interested the role of the SUMO-E3 ligase dPIAS in gene silencing, heterochromatin and nuclear organization. The second project of the lab investigates the epigenetic regulation of centromere identity with a particular focus on neocentromere formation in flies and human tissue culture. In addition to genetic, developmental, biochemical, and cytological analysis, the lab uses live imaging and time-lapse microscopy as major tools in these studies.