Karl Ekwall
Professor
Biosciences and Nutrition
Karolinska Institutet
Sweden
Biography
Karl Ekwall is an expert on genetics, chromatin and epigenomic analyses, using primarily fission yeast (S. pombe) as a model organism. During his PhD at Uppsala university he performed pioneering genetic screens for position-effect variegation in S. pombe. As a post-doc in R. Allshire’s group at MRC Human Genetics (Edinburgh) he identified the Swi6 (HP1) protein as the first centromeric chromatin protein to be described in fission yeast (Ekwall et al Science, 1995). He also demonstrated that the control of epigenetic states at centromeres was governed by histone acetylation (Ekwall et al Cell, 1997). After starting his own laboratory at Karolinska Institute in 1999 Ekwall has made important contributions towards understanding the role of RNAi in heterochromatin assembly (PNAS, 2002; Genes & Dev, 2005).
Research Interest
Medical Genetics
Publications
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Ekwall K. Genome-wide analysis of HDAC function. Trends in Genetics [Internet]. Elsevier BV; 2005 Nov;21(11):608–15. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2005.08.009
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Durand-Dubief M, Ekwall K. Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Using Microarrays. DNA Microarrays for Biomedical Research [Internet]. Humana Press; 2009;279–95. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-538-1_18
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Strålfors A, Ekwall K. Heterochromatin and Euchromatin-Organization, Boundaries, and Gene Regulation. Encyclopedia of Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine [Internet]. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA; 2011 Oct 10; Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/3527600906.mcb.200400018.pub2
