Research

Ortrun Mittelsten Scheid

Epigenetic changes in plants

Mittelsten Scheid Research Group. ©Sturm/GMI
Mittelsten Scheid Research Group. ©Sturm/GMI

Research focus 

Epigenetic changes contribute significantly to diversity in gene expression, differentiation, and adaptation potential. Using the model plants Arabidopsis thaliana and Aethionema arabicum, we investigate how environmental factors like heat, light, or genotoxic stress influence chromatin features, gene expression, and epigenetic inheritance, within plants and between generations.

 

Selected Publications

Bradamante G, Mittelsten Scheid O, Incarbone M (2021) Under siege: virus control in plant meristems and progeny. Plant Cell 33(8):2523-7.

Bente H, Foerster AM, Lettner N, et al. (2020) Polyploidy-associated paramutation in Arabidopsis is determined by small RNAs, temperature, and allele structure. PLoS Genet 17(3):e1009444 preprint bioRxiv:2020.10.21.348839.

Gutzat R, Rembart K, Nussbaumer T, et al. (2020) Arabidopsis shoot stem cells display dynamic transcription and DNA methylation patterns. EMBO J 39(20):e103667 preprint bioRxiv:430447.

Pikaard CS, Mittelsten Scheid O (2014) Epigenetic regulation in plants. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 6(12): a019315.