ChromCO

ChromCO

Chromatin remodeling in regulation of chromosomal Crossing-Over and seed production

Context

Crossing-Over (CO) during meiosis is a fundamental process ensuring sexual transmission of genetic material to next generation and meanwhile generating diversity within species by creating new chromosome/allele combinations. Understanding the mechanisms that regulate CO frequency has great interest in basic research as well as in breeding. Intensive studies over the past decades have identified a number of genes involved in meiosis regulation in yeast, plants and animals. At the DNA molecular level, the generation of double-strand-breaks (DSBs), the processes of homologous recombination and CO formation are relatively well described. Yet, at the physiological template chromatin level, the regulation of these critical meiotic events remains to be uncovered. The ChromCO project investigates functions of histone modifications and chromatin remodeling factors in regulating CO, meiosis and plant reproduction. This work involves two Brassicaceae species family: the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana and the major oleaginous crop Brassica napus (oilseed rape).

Objectives

The aim of the ChromCO project is to finely characterize the ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling factor (INO) that we recently showed to play a crucial role in repressing Crossing Over (CO) frequency in Arabidopsis. To this aim, the ChromCO project will combine multi-type approaches, including CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, genetic mapping, mutant characterization, cytogenetics, immunostaining, microscopy, and genome-wide profiling.
The ChromCO project is expected to make following breakthroughs: i) A functional understanding of the importance of chromatin landscape and chromatin remodeling in CO formation and meiosis; ii) A mechanistic insight into the function of the INO gene in chromatin remodeling and CO regulation; iii) A genome-wide knowledge of CO distribution regulated by chromatin landscape and chromatin remodeling; iv) A comparative knowledge of similarities/specificities of chromatin regulation of COs between the diploid plant Arabidopsis thaliana (2n = 10) and the allotetraploid plant Brassica napus (AACC, 2n = 38).

Partners

  • IBMP Strasbourg (W-H. Shen)
  • INRAE IGEPP (A-M. Chèvre)
  • INRAE IJPB Versailles
  • Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (E. Jenczewski)

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Modification date: 06 February 2023 | Publication date: 31 January 2022 | By: IGEPP