Scope

Plant epigenetics has recently become a compelling research field. There is accumulating evidence that (heritable) phenotypic variation is not solely based on variation in coding DNA sequences, but that epigenetic marks can alter gene expression, often under environmental or developmental influence. Branching off from molecular biology, laboratory-based epigenetic research in model organisms has thrived, and in recent years our mechanistic understanding of epigenetic processes has rapidly advanced. The most clear-cut examples of spontaneous heritable epialleles are found in plants. Epigenetic response mechanisms may be particularly crucial for the survival of plants within dynamic environments, as they cannot respond behaviourally or migrate immediately. Moreover, when we consider the duplicated genomic landscape of angiosperms, epigenetic effects could play a major role in their gene regulation. Indeed, by activating mobile elements and silencing redundant genes, epigenetic effects constitute an effective and flexible mechanism for stabilizing cellular processes immediately after genome doubling, a phenomenon of global importance in angiosperm evolution and diversification.

However, epigenetic diversity remains a component of natural biodiversity about which little is known. Despite the potentially fundamental impact of epigenetic effects on ecologically-relevant processes, the study of these effects is not yet well established in ecological research. For an efficient integration of epigenetics in ecological and biodiversity research, an interdisciplinary and continuous flux of information is necessary, together with close cooperation between related disciplines. To this end, this symposium focuses on interdisciplinary discussion and aims to foster cooperation among research groups.

Abstract book

Symposium programme and abstract book

Organising committee

Conchita Alonso	Spanish National Research Council, Spain
Oliver Bossdorf	University of Tübingen, Germany
Katrin Heer	Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany
Marie Mirouze	Institute of Research for Development, France
Lars Opgenoorth	Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany
Ovidiu Paun	University of Vienna, Austria
Christina Richards	University of South Florida, USA
Koen Verhoeven	Netherlands Institute of Ecology, The Netherlands