The main research interest of our lab is to study novel epigenetic mechanisms underlying plant developmental transitions and rendering resilience to changing climates. During their lifecycle, plants undergo several phase transitions; from gametophytic to sporophytic, embryonic to vegetative, and vegetative to reproductive development. All these developmental switches rely on the correct timing and sequence of gene expression patterns between individual stages. Moreover, plants rely on the perception and integration of noisy signals from the environment, including fluctuating temperatures, to induce growth and development. The erratic climates caused by global warming represents a big challenge to plant developmental programs.

Chromatin dynamics and epigenetic mechanisms have been widely implicated in the regulation of plant phase transitions in response to environmental cues. Plant long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have also been linked to key processes such as organogenesis, photomorphogenesis and the floral transition. Furthermore, cis regulatory elements (CREs) and cis regulatory modules (CRMs) influence cell-specific and temporal expression of coding and non-coding genes in developmental transitions. While CREs are single TF binding sites, CRMs are assemblies of CREs that include promoters (proximal CREs) and transcriptional enhancers (distal CREs). When bound by specific TFs and cofactors, enhancers induce the transcriptional activity of their target genes, thereby determining in which cell, at what time and at what level those genes are expressed, all key aspects to induce cellular differentiation. Genome editing of CRMs as well as fine-tuning the chromatin machinery hold promise for engineering plant adaptation to climate change.

We are currently focused in investigating three main topics: 

1. uncovering novel CRMs controlling plant development; 
2. dissecting the mechanistic role of VAL/PRC system in regulating the embryonic-to-vegetative and vegetative-to-reproductive transitions; 
3. characterizing the epigenomic landscape modulating plant growth under seasonal fluctuating temperatures. 

We combine classic and innovative methodologies including genetics, biochemistry, CRISPR/Cas9 technology, bioimaging, proteomics, transcriptomics and epigenomics, using Arabidopsis and strawberry as model systems. We envision that our research will provide fundamental knowledge on plant development, potentially delivering key resources to overcome the challenges for agriculture imposed by global warming.