Jana Verbančič successfully defended her PhD thesis today! Jana was part of the MelPoPP program, a joint PhD program between the University of Melbourne and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology and the University of Potsdam. She was cosupervised by Heather and Staffan Persson at Uni Melb and Mark Stitt and John Lunn at the MPI/Uni Potsdam. Jana’s thesis investigated the diel regulation of cell wall synthesis using a combination of live cell imaging and metabolic analyses of labelled CO2 incorporation. She made exciting discoveries regarding the regulation of cell wall synthesis via carbon availability. Congratulations Jana!
Category: Lab Updates
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Welcome Vicky
This week, Hongyu (Vicky) Zhu joins the lab as an undergraduate work-study student. She will help us keep the lab in good working order, so we’re excited to have her as part of the McFarLab team!
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Welcome Carlos, Lella, and Rowan
This week, the McFarLab welcomes new undergraduate students to the lab for the fall & winter terms. Carlos Wang will continue volunteering virtually and working on his meta-analysis project, Lella Erceg joins the lab as a volunteer and will work with Raegan on developing and evaluating real-time sensors of cell wall signalling. Rowan Brookman will continue his summer NSERC-USRA project as a CSB498 student.
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Welcome Jenny & Yu
Two new grad students join the lab today: Jenny and Yu. Jenny Huang recently completed her BSc in Pharmacology & Toxicology at U of T and has re-joined the McFarLab as an MSc student. Jenny will study cell wall glycoproteins.
Yu Zhu comes to us after completing his BSc at China Agricultural University and an MSc at Fudan University in China and joins the McFarLab as a PhD student. Yu project will focus on uncovering the molecular mechanisms of cell wall signaling.
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Jenny & Una graduate from their BScs!
McFarLab undergraduates Jia Hui (Jenny) Huang and Una McNally both graduated from their BSc today and both made outstanding contributions to the McFarLab during their degrees.
As a volunteer, NSERC-USRA, and CSB498 project student, Jenny examined the crosstalk between cell wall signaling and hormone signaling using a combination of plant growth assays and live cell imaging. Jenny will join the McFarLab in September as an MSc candidate.
As a CBS497 and CSB4898 student, Una analyzed cell wall stress proteomes and screened candidates from this proteome for their potential involvement in cell wall signaling. Una will join John Calarco’s lab in CSB as a technician.
Congratulations Jenny & Una and best wishes for your future work!
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Tianyi awarded her MSc!
Tianyi Li (co-supervised with Dr. Berit Ebert & Prof. Josh Heazlewood at the University of Melbourne) has been awarded her MSc from the University of Melbourne. Tianyi’s thesis investigated glycan binding proteins in the model plant Arabidopsis, and is currently in preparation for publication. Congratulations Tianyi!
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Welcome Carlo
The McFarLab welcomes new PhD student Carlo Perolo. Carlo joins the lab having completed his BSc at the University of Padua and his MSc with Prof. Lorella Navazio at the University of Padua. During his MSc, he conducted an ERASMUS+ internship at with Prof. Markus Teige at University of Vienna in Austria. Carlo will be co-supervised by Heather and Nick Provart and will use cell wall synthesis as a model system to test bioinformatic predictions. Welcome Carlo!
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An exciting new member joins the McFarLab
Welcome to our latest lab member, the Nikon Spinning Disk Microscope. Purchased with the support of the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund and matching funds from the Ontario Research Fund, this microscope will be used extensively by all lab members and by other scientists in the CSB. The microscope features lasers and optics to excite UV, CFP, GFP, YFP, and RFP, and will also be used for photoactivation, photoconversion, and photobleaching (FRAP) studies. It also features a fully automated XYZ stage and piezo-Z drive, the CSU-W1 spinning disk and dual sCMOS setup allows ultra-fast simultaneous imaging of two wavelengths at a time. We’ve got lots of exciting questions to answer with this microscope and we welcome external users and collaborators!
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Welcome Carlos, Erik, Jenny, Rowan, and Stephanie
Welcome summer students! Carlos, Rowan, and Stephanie are new to the McFarLab. Carlos is a new volunteer in the lab who will be conducting a virtual project. Rowan is a Plant Genomics and Biotechnology Focus student who has been awarded an NSERC-USRA to work in the lab. Stephanie is an undergraduate at the University of Hong Kong who was awarded a MITACS GlobaLink Internship to undertake a virtual internship in the McFarLab.
Erik and Jenny are returning McFarLab students. Erik completed his BCB330 project in the McFarLab and has re-joined as virtual volunteer. Jenny completed her CSB498 project in the McFarLab and has re-joined as a part-time research assistant.
Welcome everyone!
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New support for the McFarLab from the Connaught Fund
Heather has been granted a 2-year Connaught New Researcher Award to support the lab’s work on cell wall signalling.