Dr. Jake Harris

Chromatin & Memory

Research Overview

I’m interested in how chromatin impacts gene expression. I employ the standard molecular biology toolkit, as well as CRISPR based precision (epi)genomics and cutting-edge genomic and bioinformatic approaches to assess chromatin dynamics, including ChIP-seq, RNA-seq and ATAC-seq. With these tools, I can survey the chromatin landscape and deposit particular chromatin marks at precise genomic locations, and begin to ask fundamental questions concerning their effect on transcription. An ultimate goal of my research to use this knowledge to impart stress ‘memories’ into naive plants, so that they are primed and ready for challenges such as pathogen attack.

School of Biological Sciences Theme Affiliations

2024 – present, Associate Professor, University of Cambridge

2021 – present, Royal Society University Research Fellow

2014 – 2021, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of California

2014 – 2021, EMBO Fellow Postdoctoral Researcher, Jacobsen Lab, UCLA

Qualifications

2009-2014 PhD Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge

2006-2009 BSc Biology, University of Oxford

Key Publications 

'H1 restricts euchromatin-associated methylation pathways from heterochromatic encroachment', (2024), eLife

'The H3K4me3 binding ALFIN-LIKE proteins recruit SWR1 for gene-body deposition of H2A.Z', (2024), bioRxiv

'Epigenetic processes in plant stress priming: Open questions and new approaches', (2023), Current Opinion in Plant Biology

'MBD5 and MBD6 couple DNA methylation to gene silencing through the J-domain protein SILENZIO', (2021), Science

'A DNA methylation reader complex that enhances gene transcription', (2018), Science

'Stepwise artificial evolution of a plant disease resistance gene', (2013), PNAS

All Publications 

See Google Scholar