R. Kelly Dawe

The paper analyzes higher-order repeat (HOR) structures in maize centromeres and knobs, finding they are widespread but not functionally specific to centromeres, while knobs show structured HOR patterns linked to meiotic drive.

The paper identifies TE-like methylated genes in maize endosperm that are demethylated and highly expressed, revealing a switch from heterochromatin to euchromatin that activates protein storage genes.

The paper investigates the genetic and environmental factors influencing the distribution of three chromosomal drive haplotypes in maize using GWAS and population data.

This paper describes the engineering of chromosome fission in maize using synthetic centromeres, resulting in stable, functional chromosome pairs that increase the diploid chromosome number from 20 to 22.

The paper characterizes two CENH3 paralogs in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, showing their essential function and association with ZeppL-LINE1 elements in centromeres.

The paper investigates the role of TRKIN in maize meiotic drive, finding it to be deleterious when paired with normal chromosomes and suggesting it is being purged from populations.

The paper examines genome evolution in maize and related grasses, revealing variable outcomes of polyploidy across species.

The paper identifies 58 DNG target genes in maize pollen that are silenced in plant body tissues but expressed in pollen, revealing their role in pollen viability and function.

The paper identifies the sr2 gene in maize, which encodes a DUF3732 protein homologous to the rice yss1 gene, and shows it is involved in plastid gene expression.

The paper demonstrates the feasibility of using synthetic centromeres in maize to transmit chromosomes across generations through a LexA-CENH3 tethering approach.

The paper analyzes large haplotypes in maize genomes to reveal a complex age structure across the pan-genome, identifying deep coalescence times and divergence peaks linked to population history and domestication.

This paper identifies MDR1 as a DNA glycosylase in maize that demethylates DNA and reduces siRNA expression in endosperm, challenging the role of demethylation in transposon repression and genomic imprinting.

A multi-genome analysis of maize reveals previously unknown variation in gene content, genome structure, and methylation.

The paper shows that centromere size in maize scales with genome size, independent of CentC satellite DNA, and involves multiple limiting factors.

The paper presents a gapless maize genome assembly using long read technologies and optical maps, achieving telomere-to-telomere assemblies for chromosomes 3 and 9.

This study evaluates the impact of sequence depth and read length on long-read assembly quality for the maize genome, finding that lower depths and shorter reads result in fragmented assemblies.

The paper examines DNA methylation and small RNA expression in maize mutants lacking chromomethylases and DDM1-type nucleosome remodelers, revealing a role for chromomethylation and DDM1 in RdDM at mCHH islands.

The paper improves the maize reference genome using single molecule technologies, resulting in longer contigs and better annotation of repetitive elements and genes.

The paper investigates the evolution of CentC repeats in maize, finding that tandem duplications drive diversity and that domestication reduced CentC abundance while increasing Cent4.