In the germline of animals, genomic DNA must be preserved and protected from damage caused by parasitic DNA elements known as transposable elements. This protection is provided by the piRNA pathway, a small RNA-based molecular defense system, conceptually similar to an immune system. Thomas’s research focused on how the expression of transposable elements and the piRNA defense system adapt to molecular changes throughout germline development in Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies).

His findings provide novel insights into stage-specific regulation of this process, and how epigenetic silencing of transposable elements is established and maintained throughout germline development. These discoveries may have broader implications for understanding the molecular mechanisms of epigenetic regulation and the preservation of transcriptional identity in the germline, extending beyond transposable element silencing.

The PhD degree was completed at the department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University

This résumé is prepared by the PhD student

Time: Thursday 24. October, 2024 at 13:00
Place: Building 1870, room 816 (Faculty club at 8th floor), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Universitetsbyen 83, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C.
Title of dissertation: piRNA-mediated Regulation of Transposons in the Developing Germline of Drosophila melanogaster
Contact information: Thomas Høgsbro Grønbæk, e-mail: thomasgrnbk@mbg.au.dk, tel.: +45 28 59 05 23.

Members of the assessment committee:
Professor René F Ketting, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Mainz, Germany

Professor Sebastian Marquardt, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sweden

Associate Professor Lotte Bjergbæk (chair), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark

Supervisors: Assistant Professor Peter Ebert Andersen and Associate Professor Christian Kroun Damgaard, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus Univsersity, Denmark

Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English.

The defense is public.