Model system: the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster
Mitosis and meiosis are cell division cycles essential for the correct transmission of genetic material (chromosomes) from one generation to the next. Centromeres are key regions of eukaryotic chromosomes where the kinetochore assembles to ensure proper chromosome segregation during both mitosis and meiosis.
Despite its essential function, centromere identity is not defined by DNA sequence, but is instead determined epigenetically by the presence of a centromere-specific histone variant CENP-A. In mitosis, errors in CENP-A assembly result in genome instability and aneuploidy, both hallmarks of cancer. In meiosis, the regulation of CENP-A assembly is recently emerging and appears to differ mechanistically from mitosis.
A key research question in the laboratory is to understand how CENP-A is targeted to and reproducibly incorporated at centromeres during meiosis.
We use male meiosis in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model developmental system, combing genetics, cell biology and biochemical approaches. A major focus is to determine how CENP-A is maintained on mature sperm, despite the removal of most other histones from chromatin during spermatogenesis.
Another focus of the laboratory is to investigate which epigenetic factors influence stem cell self-renewal and/or differentiation in the germ line. We use germ line stem cell niche in Drosophila melanogaster females as model system, combining genetics with high resolution fixed and live imaging approaches.
To meet our group members, see our group pages