I studied biology in my bachelor’s and master’s at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (October 2012 – September 2018). During my studies, I put a strong focus on plant sciences and took the initiative to investigate plant metabolic pathways and protein allocation and their redox-based regulation. In October 2018, I joined the group of Dr. Martin Groth at the Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology at the Helmholtz Zentrum München as a PhD student. My work is focused on the regulation of one-carbon metabolism and epigenetic dynamics in model plants subjected to variable growth conditions. Together with my colleagues, I aim to illustrate new mechanisms that enable organisms to memorize environmental cues and adjust to climate change, one of the biggest societal problems of our time.

Plants have developed sophisticated molecular responses to align their development to an ever-changing environment. During my PhD studies, I showed that environment-dependent changes in folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism affect DNA methylation and gene silencing in Arabidopsis. ​ Folate metabolism provides substrates for various transmethylation reactions including DNA methylation, a prominent epigenetic modification. We could demonstrate how diurnal oscillation of metabolites from folate metabolism and photoperiod length affect DNA methylation patterns. ​

Accordingly, these findings suggest a novel mechanism of epigenetic regulation by which the sensitivity and fidelity of DNA methylation pathways is controlled by environment-dependent changes in folate metabolism.