Research projects

The project is interested in understanding the regulatory and functional mechanisms of the circadian clock using Arabidopsis thaliana plants as an experimental model. This project aims firstly to perform global studies to examine histone modifications in the epigenome of Arabidopsis, characterising the clock function and the environmental factors in this regulation. The aim is also to identify patterns of histone modification directly regulated by CCA1 and other transcription factors essential to the operation of the clock. To that end, samples of wild plants with mutations and overexpression in each component will be used and there will be an examination in vivo and at a genomic level of the acetylation and methylation of histones using the chromatin immunoprecipitation technique followed by mass sequencing (ChIP-Seq). This is intended to obtain high resolution combinatorial profiles of histone methylation and acetylation in the epigenome of Arabidopsis thaliana and define the role of different components of the clock and various environmental factors in the epigenetic regulation of genes controlled by the clock.