Discoveries
Plant Biology
Plant Biology
To match human population growth, world agricultural production must double over the next quarter century. At Salk, we study plants so that humans will have the food, clothing, energy and medicines they need now and in the future.

Understanding how DNA is selectively tagged with “do not use” marks

Assistant Professor Julie Law and first author Ming Zhou discovered a small family of proteins that control where in the genome DNA methylation marks (chemical “do not use” signs) are added. Their work on this aspect of genetic regulation is highly relevant for processes that range from normal development to cellular defects and diseases, which can arise due to erroneous DNA methylation patterns in plants and/or humans. Their paper appeared in Nature Genetics on May 7, 2018.

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