Plant Epigenetics and Epigenome Engineering (F3)
October 13-16, 2025  | Hilton Fort Collins, Fort Collins, CO, United States
Doris Wagner, Xuehua Zhong, Toshiro Ito and Claudia Köhler
Scholarship Deadline: Jul. 3, 2025 | Abstract Deadline: Sep. 19, 2025 | Early Registration Deadline: Aug. 15, 2025
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of August 23, 2025 8 AM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
Monday, October 13, 2025
4:00–8:00 PM Registration Preconvention Foyer
6:00–8:00 PM Welcome Mixer Atrium
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
7:30–8:30 AM Breakfast Salons 1 & 5
8:00–8:30 AM Poster Setup Salons 1 & 5
8:15–5:00 PM Poster Viewing Salons 1 & 5
8:30–9:30 AM Welcome and Keynote Address Salon 2
  Xiaofeng Cao, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Epigenetics Regulation and Stress Memory
 
9:30–11:45 AM Regulation of Transposable Elements and Genome Organization Salon 2
  Eriko Sasaki, Kyushu University
Genetic Basis of Epigenetic Variation and its Consequences for Adaptation
 
  R. Keith Slotkin, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
The Control of Transposable Elements
 
  Taiko To, Institute of Science Tokyo
DNA Methylation Establishment at TEs
 
  Erika Ellison, University of Cambridge
Short Talk: Epigenetic Regulation of ATHILA5 Centrophilic Retrotransposition in Arabidopsis
 
10:00–10:20 AM Coffee Break Preconvention Foyer
11:45–12:45 PM Lunch Salons 1 & 5
12:15–2:30 PM Poster Session 1 Salons 1 & 5
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight: Late-breaking research presentations selected from abstract submissions Salon 2
  Jake Harris, University of Cambridge
CRISPR targeting of H3K4me3 Activates Gene Expression and Unlocks Centromeric Crossover Recombination in Arabidopsis
 
  Christel Carles, Université Grenoble Alpes - CNRS
Studying and Engineering Chromatin Mark Switches, for Controlled Developmental Transitions
 
  Leonardo Furci, OIST
Rice Epigenome Manipulation for Pathogen Resistance
 
  Javier Antunez Sanchez, University of Warwick
Enabling Transgenerational Epigenetic Memory of Stress in Plants
 
  Rebecca A. Mosher, University of Oxford
Epigenomic Changes Following the Evolution of Selfing
 
  Cristian J Peña-Ponton, Wageningen University and Research
Genome-Wide Targeting of Transposable Elements for Epigenetic Reprogramming and Gene Activation in Tomato
 
  Avriti Ranjan, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology
Dissecting the Role of Heat Shock Factors (HSFs) in Determining the DNA Methylation Landscape Under High Temperature Regimes in Arabidopsis
 
  Inna Lermontova, Institute of Plant Genetics
Ubiquitin-dependent Proteolysis of KNL2 Driven by APC/CCDC20 is Critical for Centromere Integrity and Mitotic Fidelity
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Preconvention Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Gene Regulation in the Context of Chromatin Salon 2
  Robert Schmitz, University of Georgia
Decoding a Non-Coding Domestication QTL
 
  Aman Husbands, University of Pennsylvania
Paralog-Specific Regulons from a Single Network Architecture
 
  Doris Wagner, University of Pennsylvania
Epigenome Engineering
 
  Lucas Jarry, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
Short Talk: Plant Mobile Domain Protein-DNA Motif Modules Counteract Polycomb Silencing to Stabilize Gene Expression
 
  Fernando Baile, University of Warwick
Short Talk: PRC1-mediated H2A.Zub Promotes Gene Expression by Preventing H3.1K27me1 Incorporation in Arabidopsis
 
7:00–8:00 PM On Own for Dinner
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
7:30–8:30 AM Breakfast Salons 1 & 5
8:30–11:30 AM DNA Methylation and Noncoding RNAs in Epigenetics Salon 2
  Steven E Jacobsen, University of California, Los Angeles
Epigenome Engineering
 
  Xuehua Zhong, Washington University in St. Louis
Function and Mechanism of DNA Methylation
 
  Nicolas Bouché, Université Paris-Saclay
Tomato Epigenome Engineering
 
  Nathan M. Springer, Bayer Crop Sciences
DNA Methylation and Crop Improvement
 
  Anna Dmitrieva, University of California, Berkeley
Short Talk: DNA Demethylation Stabilizes Epigenetic Inheritance by Preventing Spontaneous Epiallele Formation
 
  Taehoon Kim, University of Florida
Short Talk: A Cis-Regulatory Element Guides Locus- and Female-Specific De Novo DNA Methylation in Rice
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break Preconvention Foyer
11:30–12:30 PM Poster Setup Salons 1 & 5
11:30–4:30 PM On Own for Lunch
12:30–10:00 PM Poster Viewing Salons 1 & 5
3:00–4:30 PM Career Roundtable Salon 2
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Preconvention Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Epigenetics in (de) Differentiation, Growth and Development Salon 2
  Claudia Köhler, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Mobile Small RNAs Regulate Endosperm Development
 
  Julia Questa, Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics
Interplay between Coding and Non-Coding Regulation in Plant Developmental Transitions
 
  Julie A. Law, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Tissue Specific Roles for Classy Chromatin Remodelers and DNA Methylation
 
  Mingli Xu, University of South Carolina
Short Talk: Epigenetic Regulation of Vegetative Phase Change by the Nucleosome Remodeling and Deacetylation Complex
 
  Randy D Allen, Oklahoma State University
Short Talk: TRA1, a Component of the SWR1 Chromatin Remodeling Complex, is Required for AGL15 Transcriptional Silencing during the Seed-to-Seedling Transition
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Salons 1 & 5
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 2 Salons 1 & 5
Thursday, October 16, 2025
7:30–8:30 AM Breakfast Salons 1 & 5
8:30–11:30 AM Histone Variants, Occupancy, and Modifications Salon 2
  Yannick Jacob, Yale University
Histone Variants in DNA Replication and Repair
 
  Fred van Ex, Inari
Transformative Seed Technology
 
  Binglian Zheng, Fudan University
Chromatin Remodeling Complexes in Plant Development
 
  Hua Jiang, University of Potsdam
Chromatin Attachment to the Nuclear Matrix Represses Hypocotyl Elongation
 
  Kehui Zhu, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology
Short Talk: Dynamic Control of H2A.Zub and H3K27me3 by Ambient Temperature During Cell Fate Determination in Arabidopsis
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break Preconvention Foyer
11:30–3:00 PM On Own for Lunch
3:00–4:30 PM Panel Discussion: Epigenome Editing Salon 2
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Preconvention Foyer
5:00–6:45 PM Epigenetic Regulation of Environment/Stress Response and Memory Salon 2
  Toshiro Ito, Nara Institute of Science and Technology
Chemical manipulation of epigenome towards flowering control
 
  Jurriaan Ton, University of Sheffield
From Recall to Reset: The Role of DNA (de)methylation in Plant Immune Memory
 
  Xiangsong Chen, Wuhan University
Short Talk: A Non-canonical RNA Polymerase Ⅱ Kinase Interacts with Bromodomain-containing Proteins to Maintain Gene Expression upon Heat Stress in Arabidopsis
 
  Vasundara Sundaravadivelu, BRIC-National Institute of Plant Genome Research
Short Talk: Decoding the ‘Histone-code’ of Plant Environmental Adaptation
 
  David M. Bisaro, Ohio State University
Short Talk: Repressive Host Transcription Factors Recruit PRC2 and an Activating Viral Transcription Factor to Geminivirus Chromatin
 
6:45–7:00 PM Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers) Salon 2
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Salons 1 & 5
8:00–9:00 PM Trivia Salon 2
Friday, October 17, 2025
12:00–11:59 PM Departure