CSB Seminar – Professor Mary Gehring, Department of Biology, Whitehead Institute

Cytosine DNA methylation is a heritable epigenetic mark important for transposable element silencing, genomic imprinting, and suppression of recombination. DNA methylation patterns are faithfully inherited between generations in plants. I will discuss the role of various genomic features in maintaining this stability and demonstrate that stable transgenerational methylation inheritance relies on a simple DNA-methylation sensing genetic circuit. I will also discuss the scope and consequences of epigenomic reprogramming during reproductive development, with a particular focus on small RNAs.