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Dr Sara Farrona
Pathway Director for Plant & Agri Biosciences
SFI Frontiers for the Future
sara.farrona@universityofgalway.ie

Research Interests

  • Polycomb group pathway
  • Plant development
  • Gene regulation and chromatin dynamics
Germinating Brassica seeds

Research Overview

In our lab, we are fascinated by how plants adapt their development to an ever-changing environment throughout their entire lifespan. This remarkable flexibility is guided by genetic information encoded in the plant’s DNA. Although every cell within a plant carries the same genetic blueprint, each cell type is distinguished by the expression of a specific set of genes. This differential gene regulation gives rise to the diverse cellular phenotypes that form the plant body.

Wild Type (L) and UBP5 mutant (R) Arabidobsis.

Our research focuses on uncovering how chromatin-related and epigenetic mechanisms function and how their activities are coordinated to regulate gene expression and cellular reprogramming during plant development. Using a combination of molecular techniques, we aim to shed light on these complex processes.

UBP5 (Green) localises to the nucleus and interacts with PRC2.

One key question we seek to address is how the activity of the Polycomb Group (PcG) pathway – which mediates the deposition of two key repressive epigenetic marks – is regulated through its interactions with other nuclear proteins. We are also exploring epigenetic processes involved in establishing plant molecular memories, investigating where in the plant these memories are stored and how they influence development over time.

Keywords

Plants, Arabidopsis, Polycomb Group pathway, histone marks, histone deubiquitination, plant memory, seed priming, germination

Research Techniques

  • Protein-protein interaction analyses
  • Genome wide analyses (RNA-seq, ChIP-seq)
  • Histone PTM analyses
  • Plant transformation, genotyping and phenotyping

Lab Members

  • Saqlain Haider (PhD)
  • Mohan Govindasamy (PhD)
  • Kiruba Nedousenjiam (PhD)
  • Nora Pasquali (PhD)
  • Xinyi Chen (MSc)
  • Killian Hanniffy-Spillane (MSc)
  • Duarte Bruschy (RA)

Selected Publications

Most Recent Publications

Quick Links

University Profile

PubMed

Google Scholar

Get in Touch!

sara.farrona@universityofgalway.ie