Yana Blokhina

My research centered around understanding how DNA methylation at ribosomal DNA (rDNA) repeats is regulated and dysregulating with aging. I used CRISPR-Cas9 tools to direct methylation to the promoter and gene body regions of rDNA repeats and assessed changes to targeted and distal methylation, transcription factor binding, rRNA production, and nucleolar morphology. Additionally, I utilized publicly available NGS sequencing data to gain insights into rDNA regulation by re-mapping this data to a canonical rDNA repeat.

I characterized early meiotic events of homologous chromosome pairing and segregation in zebrafish males and females with the goal of understanding sexually dimorphic contributions to aneuploidy. I demonstrated that the telomere bouquet is the site where key events leading to Python homologous chromosome pairing are coordinated. Furthermore, I showed that deletion of spo11, a gene required for proper recombination in most studied organisms, resulted in very different effects in males and females where males were sterile while females produced aneuploid offspring.