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In each generation, the two parental genomes must pair, recombine, and segregate to a newly mixed set of haploid chromosomes in a specialized cell division called meiosis. Failures in this process lead to miscarriages and congenital diseases. Research in my lab is directed towards the identification of genes and processes essential for accurate chromosome segregation during meiosis. For this, we study the meiotic entry network, which ensures the timely coordination and initiation of meiotic processes. We study the mechanisms of recognition and the well-ordered side-by-side alignment of homologous chromosomes. Furthermore, we are interested in the roles of topoisomerases during meiotic recombination, and their function in resolving unwanted chromosomal connections or crossover intermediates. The identification of any new risk factor leading to unfaithful partitioning of chromosomes into gametes is of high relevance to human health.
Excellent forward and reverse genetics, easy cytological observation of all meiotic stages and the transparency of the animal make the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans an excellent model system for our studies. State-of-the art CRISPR/Cas technologies are well established and allow the rapid generation of novel alleles and tagging of individual factors that can be followed by high-resolution imaging. This way we have generated numerous novel meiotic mutants that provide(d) us insight into events of prophase I of meiosis.
Verena Jantsch-Plunger studied Biochemistry at the University of Vienna. She conducted her diploma and PhD work at the Carnegie Institution of Washington under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Dr. Andrew Fire (discovery of RNA-interference). She earned her PhD in 1993 at the University of Vienna. Since 2017 she is Prof. of Eukaryote Genetics at the University of Vienna.
Dr. Bohr-Gasse 9
1030 Vienna
Room: 5.118
+43-1-4277-56250
My lab gained crucial insights into meiotic chromosome movement. In Caenorhabditis elegans abrogation of movement leads to the establishment of the synaptonemal complex between non-homologous DNA sequences. We found that SUN-1 is part of a complex that transduces mechanical forces and signals across the nuclear membrane and connects chromosomes in the nucleus to the force generating cytoplasmic apparatus. The complex ensures chromosome movement until essential meiotic tasks required to build a crossover have been fullfilled.
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2007.05.004
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2009.10.045
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001219
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003335
DOI: 10.1007/s00412-013-0436-7
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.09.007
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.03.018
We show how lamins “increase the fluidity of the nuclear membrane” during chromosome movement in the earliest stage of prophase I. By artificially increasing the rigidity of the lamina, we could demonstrate reduced chromosome movement resulting in abnormal chromosomes and increased apoptosis. We deciphered that cross talk between the lamina opening and events at the chromosomes exists.
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.03.018
We demonstrated that the C. elegans homolog of a conserved DNA repair factor RMI1 (RecQ-mediated genome instability protein 1) plays multiple genetically separable roles that together ensure the faithful inheritance of intact genomes during sexual reproduction. Strikingly, it spatially regulates the distribution of crossovers on chromosomes, demonstrating that the RTR (RecQ helicase-topoisomerase-RMI1/2) complex can act locally within specific chromosome domains.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002412
Antoine Baudrimont
PostDoc +43-1-4277-56261
Room: 5.522
Sarah Branson
Diploma/Master Student +43-1-4277-56261
Room: 5.522
Angela Graf
Technician +43-1-4277-56261
Room: 5.522
Lea Höglinger
Diploma/Master Student +43-1-4277-24001
Room: 5.122/5.123
Verena Jantsch-Plunger
Group Leader +43-1-4277-56250
Room: 5.118
Anne Barbara Koehle
Diploma/Master Student +43-1-4277-56261
Room: 5.522
Fränze Müller
PostDoc +43-1-4277-4282
Room: 5.623
Sarah Oppolzer
Diploma/Master Student +43-1-4277-56250
Room: 5.522
Dimitra Paouneskou
PostDoc +43-1-4277-56261
Room: 5.522
Cristina Quesada Candela
PostDoc +43-1-4277-56261
Room: 5.522
Sowmya S Geetha
PhD Student +43-1-4277-56250
Room: 5.522
Uyen Wolff
PhD Student +43-1-4277-56261
Room: 5.522
Transient and Partial Nuclear Lamina Disruption Promotes Chromosome Movement in Early Meiotic Prophase.
Link, Jana; Paouneskou, Dimitra; Velkova, Maria; Daryabeigi, Anahita; Laos, Triin; Labella, Sara; Barroso, Consuelo; Pacheco Piñol, Sarai; Montoya, Alex; Kramer, Holger; Woglar, Alexander; Baudrimont, Antoine; Markert, Sebastian Mathias; Stigloher, Christian; Martinez-Perez, Enrique; Dammermann, Alexander; Alsheimer, Manfred; Zetka, Monique; Jantsch, Verena
Matefin/SUN-1 Phosphorylation Is Part of a Surveillance Mechanism to Coordinate Chromosome Synapsis and Recombination with Meiotic Progression and Chromosome Movement.
Woglar, Alexander; Daryabeigi, Anahita; Adamo, Adele; Habacher, Cornelia; Machacek, Thomas; La Volpe, Adriana; Jantsch, Verena
Meiotic chromosome homology search involves modifications of the nuclear envelope protein Matefin/SUN-1.
Penkner, Alexandra M; Fridkin, Alexandra; Gloggnitzer, Jiradet; Baudrimont, Antoine; Machacek, Thomas; Woglar, Alexander; Csaszar, Edina; Pasierbek, Pawel; Ammerer, Gustav; Gruenbaum, Yosef; Jantsch, Verena
The Group Jantsch participates in in the special Doctoral Program 'Chromosome Dynamics' reviewed and funded by the Austrian Research Fund FWF.
Nutrient-regulated control of lysosome function by signaling lipid conversion
14:00 - 15:00
VBC5 Lecture Hall A+B/ZoomShedding Light on the Dark Side of Terrestrial Ecosystems: Assessing Biogeochemical Processes in Soils
12:00 - 13:00 ZoomProtein homeostasis and lifelong cell maintenance
11:00 - 12:00 IMBA/GMI Lecture HallDissecting the turgor sensing mechanisms in the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
11:00 - 12:00 GMI Orange Seminar RoomPikobodies: What does it take to bioengineer NLR immune receptor-nanobody fusions
14:00 - 15:00 GMI Orange Seminar roomWhen all is lost? Measuring historical signals
13:15 - 14:15 UBB - Lecture Hall 1Gene regulatory mechanisms governing human development, evolution and variation
13:00 - 14:00 IMBA/GMI Lecture HallRegulation of Cerebral Cortex Morphogenesis by Migrating Cells
11:00 - 12:00 IMBA/GMI Lecture HallPhage therapy for treating bacterial infections: a double-edged sword
13:30 - 14:30 UBB - Lecture Hall 3Suckers and segments of the octopus arm
11:00 - 12:00 IMBA/GMI Lecture HallUsing the house mouse radiation to study the rapid evolution of genes and genetic processes
13:15 - 14:15 UBB - Lecture Hall 1CRISPR jumps ahead: mechanistic insights into CRISPR-associated transposons
11:30 - 12:30 Max Perutz Labs SR 1 (6th floor)SLiMs and SHelMs: Decoding how short linear and helical motifs direct PPP specificity to direct signaling
14:00 - 15:00 MFPL main building, 6th floor SR1/2Title to be announced
11:30 - 12:30 Max Perutz Labs SR 1 (6th floor)Visualising mitotic chromosomes and nuclear dynamics by correlative light and electron microscopy
11:30 - 12:30 Max Perutz Labs SR 1 (6th floor)Enigmatic evolutionary origin and multipotency of the neural crest cells - major drivers of vertebrate evolution
13:15 - 14:15 UBB - Lecture Hall 1Engineered nanocarriers for imaging of small proteins by CryoEM
11:00 - 12:00 GMI Orange Seminar RoomBacterial cell envelope homeostasis at the (post)transcriptional level
13:15 - 14:15 UBB - Lecture Hall 1Title to be announced
14:00 - 15:00 VBC5 Lecture Hall A+B/ZoomHydrologic extremes alter mechanisms and pathways of carbon export from mountainous floodplain soils
12:00 - 13:00 UBB - Lecture Hall 1Dissecting post-transcriptional gene expression regulation in humans and viruses
11:00 - 12:00 IMBA/GMI Lecture HallPolyploidy and rediploidisation in stressful times
13:15 - 14:15 UBB - Lecture Hall 1Prdm9 control of meiotic synapsis of homologs in intersubspecific hybrids
11:30 - 12:30 Max Perutz Labs SR 1 (6th floor)Title to be announced
14:00 - 15:00 VBC5 Lecture Hall A+B/ZoomRNA virus from museum specimens
13:15 - 14:15 UBB - Lecture Hall 1Programmed DNA double-strand breaks during meiosis: Mechanism and evolution
11:30 - 12:30 Max Perutz Labs SR 1 (6th floor)Title to be announced
11:00 - 12:00
