Dr. Xiao studies the mechanism underlying epigenetic regulation of gene expression using the model plant Arabidopsis. Dr. Xiao received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University and started as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Saint Louis University in 2007. His laboratory is employing genetic, molecular, and genomic approaches to investigate how gene imprinting is controlled and regulates plant reproductive development. Dr. Xiao and his colleagues have showed that DNA methyltransferaseMET1 methylates and silences imprinted genes, and DNA glycosylase DEMETER antagonizes MET1 to demethylate the maternal allele of the imprinted genes, thus resulting in imprinted gene expression. Recently he is involved in a research to show that DNA methylation undergoes dynamic changes during seed development.