Scientific Report on TUM-IAS Fellowship
Genetic variation is a major driver of trait variation. Missing from previous efforts is an understanding of how epigenetic variation contributes to this process. We focus on innovating methods, studying experimental and natural plant populations, and developing mathematical models to better understand the role of epigenetic variation in trait variation. full report …
Short CV
Prof. Robert Schmitz (b. 1980) obtained his PhD in Genetics at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, studying the molecular bases of epigenetic phenomena in the Laboratory of Genetics. He continued his exploration of epigenetic phenomena at the Salk Institute of Biological Studies where he acquired expertise in epigenomics. It was there he was part of numerous discoveries of spontaneous epimutations in plants. In 2013, he formed his own independent research program in the Department of Genetics at the University of Georgia and was recently promoted to an Associate Professor and a Georgia Research Alliance Lars G. Ljungdahl Distinguished Investigator.
Selected Awards
- 2020, ISI Highly Cited Researcher (Top 1% most-cited, for subject area)
- 2020, UGA Foundation Professorship of Plant Sciences
- 2020, UGA Creative Research Medal in Natural Sciences and Engineering
- 2017, Georgia Research Alliance, Lars G. Ljungdahl Distinguished Investigator
- 2015-2019, Pew Biomedical Scholar, Class of 2015
- 2014, “40 under 40”, named by Cell as one of 40 accomplished young scientists shaping current and future trends in science under the age of 40
- 2012, 7th Annual Young Investigator Award – Genome Technology
- 2012-2016, Recipient of NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00)
- 2008, Recipient of NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award2008 1 of 45 Finalists for Life Sciences Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
Research Interests
Epigenomics, DNA methylation, chromatin biology, epigenetic inheritance.
Selected Publications
- Hofmeister, Brigitte T.; Lee, Kevin; Rohr, Nicholas A.; Hall, David W.; Schmitz, Robert J.: Stable inheritance of DNA methylation allows creation of epigenotype maps and the study of epiallele inheritance patterns in the absence of genetic variation. Genome Biology 18 (1), 2017.
- Bewick, Adam J.; Niederhuth, Chad E.; Ji, Lexiang; Rohr, Nicholas A.; Griffin, Patrick T.; Leebens-Mack, Jim; Schmitz, Robert J.: The evolution of CHROMOMETHYLASES and gene body DNA methylation in plants. Genome Biology 18 (1), 2017.
- Bewick, Adam J.; Vogel, Kevin J.; Moore, Allen J.; Schmitz, Robert J.: Evolution of DNA Methylation across Insects. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2016, msw264.
- Lu, Zefu; Hofmeister, Brigitte T.; Vollmers, Christopher; DuBois, Rebecca M.; Schmitz, Robert J.: Combining ATAC-seq with nuclei sorting for discovery of cis-regulatory regions in plant genomes. Nucleic Acids Research 45 (6), 2016, e41-e41.
- Niederhuth, Chad E.; Bewick, Adam J.; Ji, Lexiang; Alabady, Magdy S.; Kim, Kyung Do; Li, Qing; Rohr, Nicholas A.; Rambani, Aditi; Burke, John M.; Udall, Joshua A.; Egesi, Chiedozie; Schmutz, Jeremy; Grimwood, Jane; Jackson, Scott A.; Springer, Nathan M.; Schmitz, Robert J.: Widespread natural variation of DNA methylation within angiosperms. Genome Biology 17 (1), 2016.
- Bewick, Adam J.; Ji, Lexiang; Niederhuth, Chad E.; Willing, Eva-Maria; Hofmeister, Brigitte T.; Shi, Xiuling; Wang, Li; Lu, Zefu; Rohr, Nicholas A.; Hartwig, Benjamin; Kiefer, Christiane; Deal, Roger B.; Schmutz, Jeremy; Grimwood, Jane; Stroud, Hume; Jacobsen, Steven E.; Schneeberger, Korbinian; Zhang, Xiaoyu; Schmitz, Robert J.: On the origin and evolutionary consequences of gene body DNA methylation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (32), 2016, 9111-9116.
- van der Graaf, Adriaan; Wardenaar, René; Neumann, Drexel A.; Taudt, Aaron; Shaw, Ruth G.; Jansen, Ritsert C.; Schmitz, Robert J.; Colomé-Tatché, Maria; Johannes, Frank: Rate, spectrum, and evolutionary dynamics of spontaneous epimutations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112 (21), 2015, 6676-6681.
- Schmitz, Robert J.; Schultz, Matthew D.; Urich, Mark A.; Nery, Joseph R.; Pelizzola, Mattia; Libiger, Ondrej; Alix, Andrew; McCosh, Richard B.; Chen, Huaming; Schork, Nicholas J.; Ecker, Joseph R.: Patterns of population epigenomic diversity. Nature 495 (7440), 2013, 193-198.
- Schmitz, R. J.; Schultz, M. D.; Lewsey, M. G.; O'Malley, R. C.; Urich, M. A.; Libiger, O.; Schork, N. J.; Ecker, J. R.: Transgenerational Epigenetic Instability Is a Source of Novel Methylation Variants. Science 334 (6054), 2011, 369-373.
Publications as TUM-IAS-Fellows