Identification of the molecular and biophysical determinants controlling heterochromatin formation and silencing in the mouse embryo (A24)

• Subject Area: General Genetics and Functional Genome Biology
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 213249687

.Our project will address how heterochromatin is formed de novo at the very beginning of mammalian development after fertilisation. Specifically, we will investigate the mechanisms that control the formation of heterochromatin and lead to its functional silencing. For this, we will employ combinatorial gain-of-function approaches followed in mouse embryos, followed by transcriptomic analysis and the study of chromatin marks genome wide. In addition, we will investigate whether heterochromatin establishment occurs through phase separation. For this, we will implement new imaging methods to address whether mouse embryos display features compatible with phase separation properties.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1064: Chromatin Dynamics
• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Project Head: Professorin Dr. Maria Elena Torres-Padilla