ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from selection papers published in Journal Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity researchers (ECRs) working experimental biology during our centenary year but also huge variety animals physiological systems that are essential for ‘comparative’ approach. Jennifer Steffen an author on ‘ Combined effects sa...

The proper timing of flowering is critical for successful reproduction. The perception of the seasonal cues of day-length changes and exposure to cold influences flowering time in many plant species through the photoperiod and vernalization pathways, respectively. Here we show that a plant homeodomain (PHD) finger-containing protein, VIN3-LIKE 1 (VIL1), participates in both the photoperiod and ...

The pattern of histone modifications, called the histone code, influences transitions between chromatin states and the regulation of transcriptional activity. Four recent papers describe how plant homeodomain (PHD) finger proteins read part of this code. The PHD finger may promote both gene expression and repression through interactions with trimethylated lysine 4 on histone 3 (H3K4), a univers...