Technical University of Munich [TUM]

Department of Plant Sciences [Home]
Hans Eisenmann-Zentrum for Agricultural Sciences [HEZ]
Liesel-Beckmann-Str. 2
85354 Freising, Germany

Institute for Advanced Study [TUM-IAS]
Lichtenbergstr. 2a
85748 Garching, Germany


email:     frank[at]johanneslab[dot]org
email:     f.johannes[at]tum[dot]de
phone:   +49 8161 71 4139




Our main research interests

DNA stores heritable information in the form of a four letter code; A, C, G and T. Textbook genetics tells us that the code can be mutated (e.g. letter A turns into letter G), and that such mutations alter the functions of genes. In plants, it is becoming increasingly clear that heritable alterations in gene function can also be caused by meiotically stable epimutations, which arise independently of DNA changes. A well-known example of an epimutation is the accidental gain or loss of cytosine methylation, a chemical modification of a cytosine (the letter C in the DNA code) into 5-methylcytosine.

We have previously shown that experimentally-induced as well as spontaneously occurring epimutations can be remarkably stable across generations, and can in some cases even contribute to the heritability of important plant traits. Because of these, and similar, observations, epigenetic modifications have emerged as potentially important factors in plant evolution, and as possible molecular targets for the improvement of commercial crops.

A major focus of our group is to infer the sources, stability and phenotypic impact of induced- and spontaneous epimutations in plants, either by direct observation of multi-generational data, or indirectly by using inference methods from evolutionary genetics. In this context, we are also actively developing computational/bioinformatic methods for the high-throughput analysis of epigenomic data.