Speaker: Thelma Madzima, University of Washington, Bothell, assistant professor 

Title: RNA-directed DNA methylation & abiotic stress mediated transcriptional regulation in maize

Abstract: In plants, RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM) is one specific epigenetic pathway that functions to direct changes in cytosine methylation, chromatin structure and gene expression at target DNA sequences. In many agriculturally important crop plants, epigenetic and chromatin remodeling pathways influence plant growth and development, as well as plant responses to environmental stress stimuli; although the mechanisms of this type of regulation is not completely understood. The core objective of my research program is to understand how agriculturally important crops respond to abiotic stress stimuli, and how epigenetic mechanisms facilitate these responses. By manipulating two important regulatory networks, we recently demonstrated that epigenetic and abiotic stress-mediated regulatory mechanisms are integrated in facilitating plant transcriptional responses to stress at specific loci in the maize genome, identifying candidate cis and trans regulatory elements. I will describe our ongoing efforts and findings that are aimed at elucidating the mechanistic relationship between these two important pathways.

Meeting link: https://iastate.webex.com/iastate/j.php?MTID=mb238d165439455f48123c9a3d116aef8

04062021 GDCB Seminar (Thelma Madzima) flyer