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For one cell to become two, it must accurately partition its DNA so that each daughter cell receives a full genome. In fission yeast, as in humans, heterochromatin plays important roles in this segregation process, and its loss can be lethal for cells that inherit too many or too few chromosomes. Despite its importance, heterochromatin is regulated by forces that are particularly dynamic, resulting in variability in its localization among genetically identical cells. Dr. Wheeler uses fission yeast to investigate the mechanisms that establish and propagate heterochromatin, and how variability in these processes shapes the chromatin landscape.   

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Joshi A*, Musicante M*, Wheeler B (2021). Defining the consequences of endogenous genetic variation within a novel family of Schizosaccharomyces pombe heterochromatin nucleating sequences. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics. doi:

Brejc K, Bian Q, Uzawa S, Wheeler B, Anderson E, King D, Kranzusch P, Preston C, Meyer B (2017) Dynamic Control of X Chromosome Conformation and Repression by a Histone H4K20 Demethylase. Cell. doi: . 

Wheeler B, Anderson E, Frøkjær-Jensen C, Bian Q, Jorgensen E, Meyer B (2016). Chromosome-wide mechanisms to decouple gene expression from gene dose during sex-chromosome evolution. eLife. doi:

Crane E, Bian Q, McCord RP, Lajoie B, Wheeler B, Ralston E, Uzawa S, Dekker J, and Meyer B (2015). Condensin-Driven Remodelling of X Chromosome Topology During Dosage Compensation. Nature. doi:

Wheeler B (2013). Small RNAs, big impact: small RNA pathways in transposon control and their effect on the host stress response. Chromosome Research. 21:587–600. 

Wheeler B, Ruderman B, Willard H, Scott K (2012). Genomic and epigenetic signals govern the inheritance of heterochromatic domains. Genetics. Feb;190(2):549-57

Wheeler B, Blau J, Willard H, Scott K (2009). The impact of local genome sequence on defining heterochromatin domains. PLoS Genetics. 5:e1000453 

Raetzman L, Wheeler B, Ross S, Thomas P, Camper S (2006). Persistent expression of notch2 delays gonadotrope differentiation. Molecular Endocrinology. 20:2898-2908