Aleš
PEČINKA

My research group focuses on the analysis of chromatin functions in regulating 3D organization and dynamics of chromosomes, control of gene expression in the context of plant breeding and meintenance of genome stability. Our favorite model plants include Arabidopsis and barley. While nuclear genome carries most of genetic information of an organism, it is chromatin that orchestrates genome expression in response to the developmental and environmental cues. Efficient genome functions are deffined at many levels from nucleosomes, through large chromatin domains up to the whole chromosomes. We developed unique resources to analyze chromatin dynamics in live in barley and currently use it to reveal their patterns under ambient and heat stress conditions. Furthermore, we investigate epigenetic basis of several agriculturally interesting traits including parental conflict in seed development and regulation of flowering time in barley. Last but not least, our work in Arabidopsis elucidates the molecular mechanisms of DNA damage repair in the context of plant chromatin.