Colot Lab Profile

Research Focus: Epigenetic Control of Genome Activity in Plants

Our group was established in 2002 with the aim of investigating epigenetic processes through genomic approaches in the model plant Arabidopsis. Plants are indeed characterized by a plethora of epigenetic phenomena, many of which have subsequently been re-discovered in animals. With its compact and nearly fully sequenced genome, extensive collections of insertion mutant lines, and a long tradition of genetic analysis, Arabidopsis provides an ideal system with which to explore self-perpetuating chromatin modifications, such as DNA methylation, and their contribution to somatically and meiotically transmissible changes of genome activity. In this context, we are particularly interested in determining whether epigenetic processes contribute significantly in nature to the generation of heritable phenotypic variation.