Functional Organization of the Plant Nucleus


The nucleus is more than a genome-packaging organelle. It is ruled by key organizing principles that influence nuclear functions. Some of these functions are conserved between animals and plants suggesting ancestral principles, and some are less understood in plants.

For instance, 3D spatial positioning of gene loci relative to the nuclear periphery and to chromosome territories contributes to transcriptional regulation in yeast and metazoans. However, this hasn’t been confirmed in plants.

My research aims at describing the organization of the transcriptional compartment in Arabidopsis thaliana in a generic model (leaf) and a specific model, particularly in relation to imprinting (embryo). This study shall reveal evolutionary conservation/divergence of nuclear organizing principles across kingdoms.


Keywords: Arabidopsis, Gene Expression, Imprinting, Spatial Positioning, Image Analysis

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 Mariamawit Ashenafi


Mariamawit Ashenafi
University of Zurich
Institute of Plant Biology
Zollikerstrasse 107
CH - 8008 Zurich

Phone: +41 44 634 82 65
mariamawitsisay.ashenafi(at)uzh.ch