Morgane

Born in Belgium, raised in South Africa, I've always had a passion for understanding how living beings interact. I did my Master's degree at the University of Namur and graduated in Ecological and Evolutionary Biology. During my master thesis I was lucky to work with the very interesting fish species the Mangrove rivulus Kryptolebia marmoratus, which has the unique property of being the only known selfing vertebrate. Through studying this species I was introduced to the world of epigenetics, and more specifically DNA methylation. I knew that I wanted to know more about this emerging field and so applied for a PhD position here at NIOO-KNAW under Koen Verhoeven's supervision. Here I am tasked with understanding how DNA methylation patterns vary between different plants species and if these patterns are stably inherited across generations. More importantly I am trying to figure out if the reproduction mode of plants may play a role in the stability of the methylome.