Seminars

In the first part of this seminar, I present our group’s research over the past five years on how the epigenome interacts with DNA repair to shape mutation rates in plants. We are investigating how these mechanisms function, their evolutionary origins, and their consequences for protecting genome regions from mutation. A focus is placed on MSH6, a core mismatch repair protein that in plants evolved an H3K4me1-reader Tudor domain more than one billion years ago. This work illustrates convergent evolution, paralleling discoveries in human cancer biology on how epigenomic features influence mutation rates. 

In the second part, I discuss recent work on mutation accumulation in plant clones during long-term tissue culture. Cloning underpins plant biotechnology and agriculture, yet the mutational consequences are often overlooked. By sequencing a multi-decade-old living collection of walnut clones, we found that clones derived from extended embryo tissue culture exhibit a 3000% increase in somatic mutation and severe genome instability, including chromosome duplications, large deletions, and transposon activation. These findings highlight potential challenges of maintaining genetic integrity in clonal systems, with implications for both basic research and agricultural industries.