Kristopher Hite

Using the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana I am studying a class of genes whose products affect the architecture of the genome. Genome architecture, and therefore transcriptional accessibility, is controlled in part by modification of the DNA and proteins that constitute the chromatin in the nucleus of each cell. These chemical modifications do not change the content of the genetic information but do change the cells' ability to read that information. Modifications such as methylation and acetylation take place on top of the genes and are considered "epigenetic." By studying genes responsible for epigenetic modifications and maintenance I hope to better understand the process of cellular differentiation.