Summer School 2018

Plant epigenetics and epigenomics

July 8-13, 2018 - Centre Port Royal, Saint-Lambert (France)

For this third SPS Summer School, 25 young researchers of very high scientific quality have benefited from one week of interdisciplinary education in the fields of plant epigenetics, plant development, plant RNA and chromatin biology, as well as bioinformatics tools associated with the analysis of this type of data.

First, a poster session around a welcome drink allowed the participants to break the ice and share information about their respective research studies. Then, through lectures, leading scientists gave the young researchers a comprehensive insight into the latest research findings in the field and identified key open questions. Practical sessions of bioinformatics analysis of epigenomics data completed these theoretical modules.

Let us not forget a day dedicated to the visit of laboratories of the SPS network and a discovery of the Palace of Versailles, which ended with a dinner during which the participants got passionate watching the semi-finals of the soccer World Cup...

A rich and dense program that left the participants exhausted but very satisfied with their summer school!

Some key figures:
- 15 women and 10 men
- 1 Master2 student, 18 PhD candidates, 6 post-docs
- laboratories from 8 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, England and USA)
- 14 nationalities (France, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom and USA)

SPS Summer School 2018

Topics and invited speakers

1) Molecular basis of plant epigenetics / Methodologies
Brief history of epigenetics, introduction to DNA methylation, histone modifications, spatial organization of plant chromatin, long non-coding RNAs, plant small RNAs, epitranscriptomics and the related methodologies.

  • Jonathan Weitzman (Epigenetics & Cell Fate Centre, France)
  • Aline Probst (Génétique Reproduction & Développement, GReD, France)
  • Chang Liu (Zentrum für Molekularbiologie der Pflanzen, ZMBP, Germany)
  • Cécile Antonelli (Laboratoire Génome et Développement des Plantes, LGDP, France)

2) What is the relationship between cell fate and epigenetics?
Chromatin regulations linked to plant morphology, photomorphogenesis, the germline and flowering.
+ Practical session: Bioinformatics analysis of ChIPseq data

  • Christel Carles (Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire & Végétale, PCV, France)
  • Fredy Barneche (Biology Institute of the École Normale Supérieure, IBENS, France)
  • Ortrun Mittelsten Scheid (Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, GmbH, Austria)

3) Role of epigenetics in the integration of environmental signals
Abiotic and biotic stresses, with a special emphasis on epigenetic stress memory.
+ Practical session: Small RNA analyses

  • Leandro Quadrana (Biology Institute of the École Normale Supérieure, IBENS, France)
  • Jean Molinier (Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, IBMP, France)
  • Lionel Navarro (Biology Institute of the École Normale Supérieure, IBENS, France)
  • Jose Gutierrez-Marcos (University of Warwick, UK)

4) Transgenerational epigenetics & Plant breeding
In particular inducible epigenetic variation in crops, use of epigenetics for plant breeding, role of natural epigenetic variation in plant speciation.
+ Practical session: DNA methylation analyses

  • Pierre Baduel (Biology Institute of the École Normale Supérieure, IBENS, France)
  • Germán Martinez (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden)
  • Étienne Bucher (Research Institute of Horticulture and Seeds, IRHS, France)

Organizers

Nicolas Bouché (Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin)
Martin Crespi (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay)
Moussa Benhamed (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay)

Speakers from the SPS LabEx

  • Nicolas Bouché (Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, IJPB, France)
  • Martin Crespi (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, IPS2, France)
  • Hervé Vaucheret (Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, IJPB, France)
  • Moussa Benhamed (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, IPS2, France)
  • Abdel Bendahmane (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, IPS2, France)
  • David Latrasse (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay)
  • Filipe Borges (Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, IJPB, France)
  • Lorenzo Concia (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, IPS2, France)
  • Christine Lelandais (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, IPS2, France)
  • Thomas Blein (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, IPS2, France)
  • Jérémie Bazin (Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, IPS2, France)

Programme

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Sponsors

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Département BAP

PlosGenetics