Ortrun Mittelsten Scheid

Epigenetic changes in plants

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

Probst AV, Mittelsten Scheid O (2015) Stress-induced structural changes in plant chromatin. Curr Opin Plant Biol 27:8-16.

Cavrak VV, Lettner N, Jamge S, et al. (2014) How a Retrotransposon Exploits the Plant's Heat Stress Response for Its Activation. PLoS Genet 10(1): e1004115.

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

Rosa M, Von Harder M, Cigliano RA, et al. (2013) The Arabidopsis SWR1 Chromatin-Remodeling Complex Is Important for DNA Repair, Somatic Recombination, and Meiosis. Plant Cell 25(6): 1990-2001.