Project information
Plant H3-H4 histone chaperone networks

Our aim is to gain insight into the mechanisms controlling histone dynamics through a dedicated histone chaperone network. Histone chaperones have been shown to specifically handle certain histone variants with distinct roles in transcription and chromatin organization. The available knockout plant lines for histone H3-H4 chaperones and H3 variants, the generation of plants expressing tagged versions of ASF1a and ASF1b chaperones, together with the identification of novel histone chaperone binding partners will allow us to shed light on the histone chaperone network and its role in transcriptional dynamics and maintenance of epigenetic information.
The project aim is therefore to establish active collaboration between the group of Dr. Probst and Dr. Dvorackova, via short scientific visits and share the common effort to explore experimentally the role of histone chaperones in histone dynamics and transcriptional changes under environmental challenges. We base our study on several main pillars (i) the exploitation of biological tools that will allow us to gain insight into the role of histone chaperones in H3 variant dynamics, (ii) the use of well-established techniques in the partner labs permitting the analysis of chromatin organization, transcriptome, histone variant enrichment including genome-wide analysis and (iii) the use of imaging techniques and dedicated image analysis methods.