Research Interests
The centromere is a specialized genomic region on a eukaryotic chromosome with which spindle microtubules associate, allowing the sister chromatids to apart from each other during cell division. Despite their conserved function in chromosome segregation, centromeres are extremely diverse in their organizations at the nucleotide sequence levels between species, posing the centromere paradox. However, owing to the high repetition of similar sequence contexts, studying the structural feature of centromeres remains largely unexplored. Using the long-read sequencing technique and developing new bioinformatic tools, my research pursues shedding light on the patterns and mechanisms of centromere diversification during the speciation of plant lineages.