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Visiting professor Seminar: Philippe Gallusci on “the multiple roles of DNA methylation in crops: selected examples in tomato and grapevine”
Feb 6, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Short Bibliography : Philippe Gallusci
Professor Philippe Gallusci (University of Bordeaux) is a team leader at UMR-EGFV (INRAE) located at the Institute of Wine and Vine Sciences (ISVV, Bordeaux). Prof Gallusci has recognized expertise in ecophysiology, physiology and molecular genetics in grapevine. He obtained his plant Molecular Biology (University of Toulouse) working on leghaemoglobin’s in Medicago truncatula. Following his PhD he spent 4 years at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne, studying the Opaque 2 gene in maize endosperm, and became assistant professor at the University of Bordeaux.
first analysed isoprenoid in citrus species before focusing on fruit development and carotenoid accumulation in tomato fruits at the Fruit Biology laboratory (INRAE, Bordeaux), and starting his own project on plant epigenetics. Initial studies were aimed at determining the role of Polycomb proteins in tomato fruits and plants, continuing with studying the fundamental role of DNA demethylation in the control of tomato fruit ripening. Studies are now focusing on the multiple of DNA methylation in plant development and adaptation to the environment, with a focus of the role of epigenetic processes in plant stress memories. In addition, works aiming at determining the relative contribution of genetic versus epigenetic diversity to the phenotypes of plants are initiated.
Seminar: The multiple roles of DNA methylation in crops: selected examples in tomato and grapevine.
Epigenetics corresponds to the complement of genetic information carried in chromatin beyond the DNA sequence. It includes posttranslational modifications of histones, DNA methylation and small RNAs, all involved in the control of gene expression and transposon mobility. Studies in Arabidopsis, tomato, and many other plants, have demonstrated the relevance of epigenetic mechanisms in the control of development, their impact on agronomic traits and on genome stability, as well as their role in the responses of plants to various stresses, and to the memory stresses.
The initial study focus was on the role of epigenetic processes in tomato as a model for fleshy fruits, and recently similar approaches for grapevine were developed, as a model for woody perennial, grafted plants which are clonally propagated. The seminar will discuss:
- the role of DNA methylation, in tomato and grapevine plants and fruits, as this epigenetic mechanism may fulfill different functions in each type of fruit:
- the impact of grafting on both scion and rootstock small RNA populations and epigenetic landscapes as well as the response and adaptation of grapevine to stresses (drought stress, carbon deprivation)
- small RNAs are exchanged between the graft partners leading to change in DNA methylation
- the possible role of DNA methylation in the epigenetic memory of stresses over years, with a focus on carbon limitation
- different strategies to generate populations that present epigenetic diversity with no or little genetic variations. Some aspects of the data we have obtained will be discussed in light of the current knowledge of epigenetic regulations in plants.
Professor Gallusci is also available for 1:1 meetings on Feb 5 and Feb 6. If you are interested in meeting him, please contact Vinay Pagay