Xuehua Zhong PhD

Epigenetic regulation is a process whereby genes can inherit different states of activity in the absence of any changes in the DNA sequences. One such epigenetic system involves the addition of a chemical mark on DNA, so-called DNA methylation, which causes silencing of underlying genes. DNA methylation-based gene silencing can be very stable and in many cases mitotically heritable. Epigenetic modifications of histones (proteins that package and organize DNA), such as methylation and acetylation, play crucial roles in regulating all DNA-dependent processes including transcription, replication, DNA repair and recombination in diverse organisms. Mis-regulation and abnormalities of histone modifications are often observed in plant and animal diseases.