Vegard Iversen

Modifications in histone tails is an epigenetic mechanism for changing the nature of chromatin, and ultimately gene expression. The Aalen lab has identified the CW domain as a novel reader recognizing such marks. CW domains are present in a number of plant and animal chromatin associated proteins in combination with various other reader and/or writer domains, a possible explanation of epigenetic inheritance. Of special interest in plants are the members of the family of Methyl-CpG-Binding domain (MBD) proteins that have a CW domain.​ The aim of my project is to elucidate the biological and biochemical function of CW-MBD proteins of Arabidopsis, investigating the potential function in light-regulated processes, dormancy and seed development.