Gerardo Del Toro-De León
Epigenetic Mechanisms of Plant Reproduction
PostDoc
Main Focus
My research focuses on deciphering the links between epigenetics, reproduction and speciation. In particular I am interested in understanding the mechanistic basis of imprinting and its impact on the establishment of post-zygotic reproductive barriers in the endosperm.
Curriculum Vitae
Professional Experience
- 2021-current: Postdoc Scientist, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology - Germany
- 2017-2021: Postdoc, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
- 2018:2020: EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow
Degree
PhD in Plant Biotechnology, Langebio-CINVESTAV, Mexico 2017
BS in Biology, UNAM, Mexico 2011
Publications
Pankaj,R., Lima,R.B., Luo,G.-Y., Ehlert,S.T., Del Toro-De León,G., Bente,H., Finger,P., Sato,H. and Figueiredo,D.D. (2026) Removal of seed coat H3K27me3 in Arabidopsis requires non-canonical functions of brassinosteroid receptors. Plant Cell., koag182. link
Del Toro-De León,G. and Köhler,C. (2025) Rapid origin and turnover of genomic imprinting by transposable elements. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol., 87, 102764. link
Del Toro-De León, G., Trenti MS, Vasudevan V, Krause U & Köhler C. (2025). Maternal control of RNA decay safeguards embryo development. bioRxiv. (preprint). link
Alaniz-Fabián, J., Xiang, D., Del Toro-De León, G., Gao, P., Abreu-Goodger, C., Datla, R., Gillmor, C. S. (2025). A maternal transcriptome bias in early plant embryogenesis. Development. link
Del Toro-De León,G., van Boven,J., Santos-González,J., Jiao,W.-B., Peng,H., Schneeberger,K. and Köhler,C. (2024) Epigenetic and transcriptional consequences in the endosperm of chemically induced transposon mobilization in Arabidopsis. Nucleic Acids Res. gkae572. link
Köhler C, Dziasek K, Del Toro-De León G (2021) Postzygotic reproductive isolation established in the endosperm: Mechanisms, drivers and relevance. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 376:1826. link
Moreno-Romero J, Del Toro-De León G, Yadav VK, Santos-González J, Köhler C (2019) Epigenetic signatures associated with imprinted paternally expressed genes in the Arabidopsis endosperm. Genome Biol 20:41. link
Del Toro-De León G, Köhler C (2019) Endosperm-specific transcriptome analysis by applying the INTACT system. Plant Reprod. 32(1):55-61. link
Wang G, Jiang H, Del Toro-De León G, Martínez G, Köhler C (2018) Sequestration of a Transposon-Derived siRNA by a Target Mimic Imprinted Gene Induces Postzygotic Reproductive Isolation in Arabidopsis. Dev Cell 46(6):696-705. link
Del Toro-De León, G., Lepe-Soltero, D., & Gillmor, C. S. (2016). Zygotic genome activation in isogenic and hybrid plant embryos. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 29, 148-153. link
Del Toro-De León, G., García-Aguilar, M., & Gillmor, C. S. (2014). Non-equivalent contributions of maternal and paternal genomes to early plant embryogenesis. Nature, 514 (7524), 624–627. link